19 de January de 2023

Nuria Mahamud de la Peña

Books. An exhaustive and richly documented study that includes photographs and unpublished documents form the time of Franco's occupation of Barcelona.

This is a graphic and documentary chronicle of the fall of Barcelona, with an introduction that traces the long journey from the entry of Franco's troops into Lleida in April 1938 to the fall of the Catalan capital in January 1939. A book about the beginning of Franco's regime that will appeal for its rigorously researched content and extensive selection of photographs from both public and private archives that show the days leading up to the arrival of Franco's army and the soldiers' march through the city.

After Vienna (March 1938) and before Prague (March 1939), Barcelona was the second great European city to fall into fascist hands in the years of what has been called ‘the European civil war’ (1936-1945). On 26 January 1939 Franco’s troops entered the city. In this detailed, graphic and carefully documented chronicle you’ll find a detailed account of the arrival of Franco’s troops, the history of those who welcomed them, and how the occupation of the city was organised and carried out. With an all but perfect strategy of concealment, the city effectively disappeared from public view, but not from the collective historical memory.

The author, Francesc Vilanova i Vila-Abadal, professor of contemporary history at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), has already published other acclaimed books such as Nazis a Barcelona [Nazis in Barcelona] and Barcelona en postguerra 1939-1945. [Post-war Barcelona, 1939-1945].

Presentation

The event will take place on Thursday 26 January at 6 pm, at The Born Culture and Memory Centre (Plaça Comercial, 12). Francesc Vilanova, professor of contemporary history at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and author of the book, Manel Risques, historian and professor emeritus at the University of Barcelona (UB), and Mireia Capdevila, the book’s documentalist and historian, will be taking part.