Orwell had the fortune, or misfortune, to be in Barcelona during the May Days when the Stalinists in the Republican Government turned against their own. It is Orwell's experiences here that prevent this from being merely a routine exercise in decrying the horrors of war. His scathing account of the Stalinist Terror in Spain was the reason this book was long ignored by the European Leftist intelligentsia, as yet unprepared to come to terms with the moral failings of the Soviet Union and prey to Soviet propaganda. So successful was Soviet propaganda in this respect in the west that the history of the Spanish Revolution remained largely unwritten until the 1970s. Orwell was one of the very few to buck this trend (see also Borkenau, "The Spanish Cockpit") and was vilified as a result.

Homage to Catalonia is a homage to the anarchist revolution, "the first time I had seen a town where the working class where in the saddle" and a requiem for its inevitable darkening and ultimate overthrow. For those who see the war in terms of communism/liberalism versus fascism he provides a much needed balance. Infact there is very little about fascism in this account as it did not impinge directly on Orwell's experience at all.

There is also much that is either humorous or strange in this book as befits an account of a time when communists were ruling in the name of the middle classes. In order to evade the secret police Orwell must sleep rough like a beggar but spend his days in restaurants and cafes like a respectable bourgeois gentleman. There is also a marvellous scene where the dreaded secret police ransack his house but are far too gentlemanly to kick his wife out of bed so leave it untouched. Which leads me to my major question with the book. What on earth did Mrs Orwell make of it all? She was clearly a loyal women following her husband at every turn but we never even find out her name. Some more personal comment on her role might have been nice but I guess Orwell isn't really writing that sort of a book.


If I Can Shoot Rabbits, Then I Can Shoot Fascists   April 26, 2001
 23 out of 30 found this review helpful

'Homage To Catalonia' is an excellent account af young Orwell's experiences of the Spanish Civil War. Although supposedly united against Franco's fascists, Orwell describes the internal warfare between the various anarchist/socialist factions that made up the Republican/Government forces. It leaves the reader bitter that brave men were dying for what they believed in while politicians back home were turning a blind eye and continuing their ultimately fruitless policy of appeasement.


Excellent insight into the spanish civil war   April 15, 2001
 18 out of 25 found this review helpful

Ignored by the rest of the world, due to the fact that capitalist states would neither support the communist, stalinist, fascist, or anarchist factions involved, the spanish civil bears a great historical significance. As an anarchist I read this book hoping to find out what the CNT got up to in one of anarchism's most famous trails to date. Orwell shows from an insiders view how the anarchists were under attack from all sides, and how the stalinists created another bitter war on the other side of the battleground, leading eventually to Franco's victory. The book offers a great representation of the contrasting atmosphere from the paradise in the dawn of collectivisation and equality to the sadness of loss and sectarianism created by the power hungry USSR supported stalinists. Of course this is not the main theme of the book, and you get a detailed account of Orwell's experience on the front line, as well as his time spent in an almost 1984esque fear from the autocratic forces of authoritarian statism. Quite simply, it's an extremely honest account of this period of his life, and you can draw many things from it depending on your interests, well worth the read.