Jason Gurney

Most eyewitness accounts of the Spanish Civil War are, I suspect, no longer that widely read - probably only Laurie Lee's and George Orwell's nowadays. This one deserves to be read with them.

Jason Gurney was a sculptor who volunteered to fight in Spain; the injury he suffered there ended his career. This account, published several years after Gurney's death in the 1970s, is one of the better books in English about the Spanish Civil War. Gurney is a lively and perceptive writer. There are also no heroics; he pulls no punches, and is deeply critical of one or two of his comrades. Although I read the book very many years ago, it has stayed with me.

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