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Brigade survivors tell story

01.08.08 Graeme Neill

British survivors of the Spanish Civil War’s International Brigades will tell their stories in a new book to be published by Collins from Max Arthur, author of several Forgotten Voices titles.

World rights were bought by Louise Stanley, senior editor for history at Collins, in a pre-empt deal from Barbara Levy at Barbara Levy Literary Agency for a five-figure sum. The book will be published in hardback in April 2009, priced £19.99, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the end of the war. A two-part documentary will be broadcast on the History Channel around the same time.

In the book, Arthur tells the story of the last British survivors of the International Brigades, which were made up of men who travelled from across Europe to fight against the Spanish fascist General Franco during the civil war from 1936 to 1939.

Stanley said that Arthur was the author of some of “the most important history books of recent years”.

“We were just talking about the Spanish Civil War and the book was created around the television show,” she said. “Max is the perfect person to weave together these incredible ­stories of heroism and comradeship. These ­people did an amazing thing in going off voluntarily to fight for their beliefs. It’s a conflict that was very much a precursor to the Second World War but it has been left by the wayside historically. Max has ­spoken to all sorts of people, including an artist and an IRA activist.”

Arthur said of the book that “it has been an extraordinarily moving experience to explore the lives of the last British survivors of the International Brigade: those brave men and women who went to Spain to fight for freedom”.

Rights deal Graeme Neill collins Max Arthur

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