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Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.5 out of 5 stars 958 ratings

From acclaimed best-selling author Adam Hochschild, a sweeping history of the Spanish Civil War told through a dozen characters, including Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell: a tale of idealism, heartbreaking suffering, and a noble cause that failed.

For three crucial years in the 1930s, the Spanish Civil War dominated headlines in America and around the world as volunteers flooded to Spain to help its democratic government fight off a fascist uprising led by Francisco Franco and aided by Hitler and Mussolini. Today we're accustomed to remembering the war through Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls and Robert Capa's photographs. But Adam Hochschild has discovered some less familiar yet far more compelling characters who reveal the full tragedy and importance of the war: a fiery 19-year-old Kentucky woman who went to wartime Spain on her honeymoon; a Swarthmore College senior who was the first American casualty in the battle for Madrid; a pair of fiercely partisan, rivalrous New York Times reporters who covered the war from opposites sides; and a swashbuckling Texas oilman with Nazi sympathies who sold Franco almost all his oil - at reduced prices and on credit.

It was in many ways the opening battle of World War II, and we still have much to learn from it. Spain in Our Hearts is Adam Hochschild at his very best.

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Product details

Listening Length 15 hours and 26 minutes
Author Adam Hochschild
Narrator Henry Strozier
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date March 29, 2016
Publisher Recorded Books
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B01CDGQE30
Best Sellers Rank

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4.5 out of 5 stars
958 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a moving history that brings the Spanish Civil War to life, with well-researched content and engaging descriptions of fascinating characters. Moreover, the book maintains a brisk pace throughout, and one customer notes how it provides crucial context for understanding the 20th century. Additionally, the writing quality receives positive feedback, and customers appreciate its heartbreaking portrayal of the conflict.

102 customers mention "Storytelling"98 positive4 negative

Customers praise the book's storytelling, describing it as a moving history filled with interesting stories that bring the Spanish Civil War to life.

"...To me, this is the real story of this horrible war--that somehow a brutal dictatorship in a backward country could become the shining light on the..." Read more

"This is a moving book, because tells a moving history, the history that many Americans that thought that helping Spanish Republic to win the war..." Read more

"A very moving book that provides the background and motivations of volunteers from the US...." Read more

"...source documents, making sense of them, and crafting a compelling narrative of their time in Spain...." Read more

94 customers mention "Readability"94 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as an incredible and compelling account of a significant historical subject.

"...Hochschild's book is a masterpiece--so well written, so encompassing, so well researched. After reading it I felt as if I had lived it...." Read more

"...It really gives a reader the extra jolt that says “this conflict should’ve mattered more.”..." Read more

"...SO--an excellent read, with this reservation: I came to the story with little knowledge of ithe Spanish revolution.. I learned that there were &#..." Read more

"...I would suggest that you read Harry Fisher's book. It perfectly complements this book." Read more

41 customers mention "Writing quality"38 positive3 negative

Customers find the book well written and readable.

"...Hochschild's book is a masterpiece--so well written, so encompassing, so well researched. After reading it I felt as if I had lived it...." Read more

"...frustrations, Spain in Our Hearts is a moving and highly readable account of that other war of the 1930s and 40s." Read more

"...BUT--he is, subject to my one minor criticism below, a fine writer, telling a fascinating story of the practice war for WW II...." Read more

"...Not only can Hochschild write, he knows how to tell a story...." Read more

38 customers mention "Information quality"38 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-researched and informative, with one customer noting it serves as a good starting point for further study.

"...'s book is a masterpiece--so well written, so encompassing, so well researched. After reading it I felt as if I had lived it...." Read more

"...This is one of the best things of this book, it explains this part clearly and you do not get lost in any moment as it happens in any other book or..." Read more

"...The details of death on the ground are as accurate and moving as anything we've read, which includes the brilliant but largely anonymous &#..." Read more

"...Focusing on a handful of participants, Hochschild gives us a well-researched, granular account of Americans (and some Brits) that volunteered to..." Read more

18 customers mention "Interest"18 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging, describing it as an interesting subject with many fascinating characters. One customer notes how the reader becomes emotionally involved with the characters, while another highlights the unique blend of human intrigue.

"...With a unique blend of human intrigue and geopolitical frustrations, Spain in Our Hearts is a moving and highly readable account of that other war..." Read more

"...A wondrous experience, the best and most realistic introduction to war by proxy probably ever written. Highly recommended...." Read more

"...of "microscopic history" is that the reader becomes engaged emotionally with the characters, which are beautifully and movingly rendered...." Read more

"...The one good thing about all these people is that each of their personalities and stories are unique enough to separate one another...." Read more

14 customers mention "Pacing"11 positive3 negative

Customers appreciate the book's pacing, describing it as moving and brisk, with one customer noting how it follows a timeline.

"...human intrigue and geopolitical frustrations, Spain in Our Hearts is a moving and highly readable account of that other war of the 1930s and 40s." Read more

"This is a moving book, because tells a moving history, the history that many Americans that thought that helping Spanish Republic to win the war..." Read more

"...The details of death on the ground are as accurate and moving as anything we've read, which includes the brilliant but largely anonymous &#..." Read more

"...This book was a harder one to get through, lots of names and stories from the past and told in second person that tend to mush together, but the..." Read more

11 customers mention "Heartbreaking story"11 positive0 negative

Customers describe this book as a heartbreaking story that details the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, with one customer noting the poignant ending in the last chapter.

"...war, Spain in Our Hearts is deeply personal story-telling, fascinating, sad, and always focused on the human and moral costs of modern war." Read more

"...Sad history, excellent writing." Read more

"...The book left me sad and inspired to research more on the Republic's movement...." Read more

"great read. describes the horrors and helplessness of war" Read more

8 customers mention "Sturdiness"8 positive0 negative

Customers praise the book's thorough research and sourcing.

"...Well researched and written." Read more

"Informative,well researched and told in a way that keeps the narrative moving in an engaging way." Read more

"This is a well reaserched book which focuses on a singular aspect of the war, americans who thought a just and equitable spain could exist...." Read more

"...Even handed and sympathetic with great source materials. A heartbreaking story." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2016
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Its the mid thirties, the United States was struggling to emerge from the Great Depression under FDR, Stalin was in power in the Soviet Union and Mussolini in Italy who had once again invaded Ethiopia. Hitler was busy consolidating his power in Germany and building a formidable military machine, just a few years away from invading Czechoslovakia and beginning WWII . Against this grim backdrop, a glimmer of hope for mankind---Spain elects a new government under President Caballero and adopts as its mission the betterment of the lives of its citizens who for years had been mired in poverty and hopelessness. Like never before the people of Spain had a say in their government. There was an explosion of euphoria in Spain shared in large part by the people of the world who saw Spain as a beacon in a sea of darkness. People world-wide held their breath and watched as the new government embarked on their great social experiment--land distribution and programs for the poor. Heretofore power had been in the hands of the military and the majority of the county's land and wealth held by less than 1 % of the populace. To help pay for these programs the military budget had to be reduced. The military was outraged. Enter General Franco and the Civil war was on. The Nationalists under Franco vs the Republicans under the new duly elected government of the people.
    Supporting the Nationalists--Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, the Catholic Church (who participated in executions and book burnings), America's Texaco Oil Company (without whose oil the Republic might have prevailed) and America's Hearst Newspaper chain.
    Supporting the Republic-- Cardena's Mexico, Stalin's Soviet Union, the Republic's citizen army, George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway who fought alongside the Republicans and idealists and dreamers everywhere. Forty thousand men and women from more than 50 countries rushed to the aid of the Republic among them several thousand from America who formed the Abraham Brigade. In all there were five International brigades made up of men and women ready to lay down their lives for the Spanish people.
    It was a lost cause for the Spanish people. Despite the fact that large segments of their populace pleaded for their government's intervention the governments of the United States, Great Britain and France stood by and watched as Spain burned beneath German air power and the fascist Italian ground troops. Soon after the entire world was at war with the Germans and Italians. Perhaps it could all have been avoided had the Allies stepped in to defend Spain.
    Years ago I had the privilege of attending one of the last annual get togethers and dinners of the surviving members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. At that time there were only a handful still alive and recently I read where the last survivor had passed away. These volunteers were the best of humankind. As Che Guevara once said "To be a revolutionary requires great love for ones people."
    Hochschild's book is a masterpiece--so well written, so encompassing, so well researched. After reading it I felt as if I had lived it. Being an idealist myself it is likely I would have joined the Lincoln Brigade had the timing been right. I admire the men and women of the world that rushed to the side of the Spanish people and I do not think a book could better capture the drama, the history, the hardship, the sacrifice, and the tragedy than "Spain in our Hearts".
    This story was summed up before Hochschild even began it when in the Prologue he quoted the great novelist Albert Camus who said "Men of my generation have had Spain in their hearts...It was there that they learned....that one can be right and yet be beaten, that force can vanquish spirit, and that there are times when courage is not rewarded."
    13 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2017
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Spain in Our Hearts is the story of a forgotten civil war in Spain. It is a forgotten civil war because it was eclipsed by the brutality and violence of World War II. The principal characters of the story are the groups of Americans who fought on both the Nationalist and Republican sides over the future of Spain, even as the American government either appeared indifferent to the war in Spain or struggled to formulate a policy that was coherent due to the complications of World War II. But still people died fighting a war in the shadows of a larger conflict.

    Hochschild really brings the human side of the conflict home as the reader is able to feel the loved ones, friends, and fellow soldiers who were lost. It really gives a reader the extra jolt that says “this conflict should’ve mattered more.” I would suggest that if it had been just a few years later it might have but the geopolitical context wasn’t there for it to matter.

    With a unique blend of human intrigue and geopolitical frustrations, Spain in Our Hearts is a moving and highly readable account of that other war of the 1930s and 40s.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2016
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Other reviews paint Hochschild as a Leftist, which certainly isn't me. And occasionally, as I read, I surmised he wasn't of my tribe. BUT--he is, subject to my one minor criticism below, a fine writer, telling a fascinating story of the practice war for WW II. And perhaps it is a story that can best be told by a Left-leaning author who might well, back in the mid-30's, have been tempted to join in the forces of right and honor. Only to discover, as did so many of those who made the arduous journey to Spain, that there is seldom a right or a wrong in a war; that the merits, if any, of one's cause are usually irrelevant if the other side has more and better arms; and that decisions by foreign powers about how much of their manpower and weaponry should be dedicated to what was happening in Spain are unlikely to take into account the needs of their proxies risking their lives there.

    To me, this is the real story of this horrible war--that somehow a brutal dictatorship in a backward country could become the shining light on the hill luring some otherwise intelligent people to a fight about which, they learned, they really knew nothing; and that this dream was then shattered by the reality of bullets and bombs, and the obvious indifference of the Russians to these misguided souls. How did they feel, when, having struggled to reach Spain and join the fray, it quickly became apparent that they were on the losing side, but couldn't get out of the war nearly as easily as they got in it.

    SO--an excellent read, with this reservation: I came to the story with little knowledge of ithe Spanish revolution.. I learned that there were "Republicans," and there were "Nationalists,." To my constant confusion, the Nationalists, whom I kept thinking must be the government folk, were the revolutionaries, and they were basically proxies for Germany and Italy. The Republicans, on the other hand, were the forces of the government, but, again to my surprise, they were the darlings of the left and of the Russians. That's tough enough, but Hochschild wasn't able to find a single word that always meant "government) or "revolutionary"--I had to keep remembering the various names by which each was called.

    Which if, as they, is the worst I can offer, that really isn't too bad. And it wasn't, but it made the redsing a little bumpier for me. Otherwise I was thoroughly pleased with the book.

    AMD, subject to that one nittlint comment5, I felt the fook was a reaqlly worthwhile read. I learned a lolt, not jus aout the specifics of this Warl but the horrors of all wars for those fighting them, especially when it suddenly appears to warriors on one side or the other than they are going to down in defeat.
    16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • ColourSurround
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Insight into the Spanish Civil War with Focus on the Contribution of Individual Americans
    Reviewed in Canada on August 7, 2020
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I really enjoyed this book.

    I had picked it up wanting to learn more about the Spanish Civil War, and not really caring in particular about what individual Americans had contributed, but their stories, and the way they were written was incredibly compelling so that the entire narrative fit together seamlessly. Hochschild also did a great job outlining the broader contributions of internationals in general, what they experienced, and why they felt the need to join a foreign war. Besides, when one of these characters is Ernest Hemingway, it's hard not to want to do a deeper dive into that.

    I recommend this book for anyone wanting to further their understanding of the Spanish Civil war, and the further implications it had on the progression of WWII. It is an excellent way to spend a few hours of your life.
  • V. Perry Child
    5.0 out of 5 stars Reglo
    Reviewed in Spain on January 21, 2023
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Regalo para mi hijo que es profesor de historia y muy enteresado en el tema de la guerra civil. No lo tenia y dice que es muy interesante.
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  • Vivian
    5.0 out of 5 stars Informative book on Spanish civil war!
    Reviewed in Germany on September 18, 2022
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This is a very well written book about famous Americans that were part of the spanish civil war. This was a gift and was highly appreciated! I would recommend buying this for any history buff.
  • Cliente Amazon
    4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent historical analysis of the Spanish Civil War.
    Reviewed in Spain on February 4, 2017
    Spain in Our Hearts gave an excellent description and historical analysis of the factors leading to the Spanish Civil War. In provided insight into the external factors affecting the Spanish population and the events leading to the greater European war. I've read a few Adam Hochschild books and I've never been disappointed.
  • Jean-Jacques Bourgeault
    4.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating episode in the history of the USA
    Reviewed in Canada on November 2, 2018
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    The Great Depression moved the world towards the dreams and promises of Bolchevists and the US was not an exception.
    Many Americans and Canadians felt a need to act and this translated in a significant participation in the Spanish civil war with sometimes serious personal sacrifices including death.
    This book describes a difficult period in a balanced and objective manner.