Franco

UPDATED SECOND EDITION

Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Franco’s death and the end of one of the longest fascist dictatorships in Europe. 

Growing up in the wake of the Spanish military’s shattering 1898 defeat over Cuba at the hands of the United States, and having survived a bullet to the stomach while serving his country in Morocco, it is perhaps no wonder that Francisco Franco’s pursuit of victory for the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War was driven by a mixture of revenge, anger, blind determination, and ruthlessness.

Franco played a significant role on the world stage until his death in 1975 and was variously courted by Hitler and Mussolini, the liberal democracies of Britain and France, and anti-communist administrations in Washington. Meanwhile in Spain itself his domestic achievements – stability and some modest economic growth – were overshadowed by the violence, oppression, and censorship that marked his long rule, as well as his rejection of any form of national reconciliation.

In Franco, Michael Streeter explores the Generalissimo’s legacy as the unlikely subject of a cult of personality in one of Europe’s longest-lasting modern dictatorships and considers his genesis, his successes, and the terrible cost at which they came.

Michael Streeter is a writer and journalist. He has written for most British national newspapers and was editor of the Daily Express website. His books include The Mediterranean: Cradle of European Culture. He lives and works in France.