DOCSLIB.ORG

IBMT Newsletter

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
IBMT Newsletter IBMT Newsletter www.international-brigades.org.uk Issue 34 / 1-2013 INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE MEMORIAL TRUST Joe Gough Farewell to last two portrait Brigaders brings in Britain Luton’s anti-fascist hero back to life Bike r’s journey from Wall of Death to Battle of Jarama Why I’m proud of my captured grandfather Plus: The war that continued in Spain after 1939 For booking details see page 26 NEWS IBMT mourns loss of last two volunteers in Britain The last two known International Brigade veter - Issue 34 / 1-2013 ans in Britain have died. They were Lou Kenton, Cover story who passed away on 17 September at the age Frank Casey’s new painting shines light on of 104, and David Lomon, who was 94 when he Luton’s anti-fascist roots died on 21 December. 7 The deaths leave one surviving British volunteer with whom the IBMT is in contact: News Stan Hilton, who lives in a nursing home in …including IBMT’s Annual General Meeting; Yarrawonga, Australia. appointment of more IBMT Patrons; Lou Kenton was a life-long political activist. A new memorials in Dublin veteran of the Battle of Cable Street, he went to 3-8 Spain in the summer of 1937 and served as a From the Secretary despatch rider and ambulance driver. 9-10 Manchester-born David Lomon attended sev - Features eral IBMT-supported events in Britain and Spain AC Williams; Spain’s guerrilla war in the last two years of his life, including one in Lou Kenton (left) at home with his ceramics collection and David Lomon in Madrid in November last year. after 1939; volunteers in the Carlist Wars; November only weeks before his death. British technicians in Spain’s aircraft He arrived in Spain, aged 19, in December He is almost certainly unique in having been a factories; Clem Beckett 1937 and, along with other members of the member of the Communist and Labour parties 11-14 British Battalion, was captured by Italian troops for 40 years each. in Aragon in April of the following year. He spent Family and friends at his funeral in Mortlake, Obituaries the next six months in prisoner-of-war camps south-west London, on 1 October were read a 15-17 before repatriation. After the Second World War, message from Labour leader Ed Miliband: “I Can you help? Lomon settled in London and had a successful was very sorry to hear of Lou’s passing. He was 18 career in the garment industry. a remarkable man whose history probably out - Letters Lou Kenton worked full-time for the Commu - shone everybody who is still with us in the …including Jubilee Gardens plaque wording; nist Party and then the British Czechoslovak Labour and Communist movements. From the Leila Berg’s lovers; Dutch Brigaders Friendship League, leaving in 1968 when the things I’ve read and the people I’ve met, I know 18-20 Prague Spring was suppressed. This also he touched so many lives and the Labour Party Books, music & film prompted him to leave the party and to join will be poorer without him offering us his advice 21-26 Labour. He returned to working in Fleet Street and guidance.” and as a sideline produced commemorative ce - What’s on ramics for left-wing causes, including some See: From the Secretary: page 9 and Obituaries: pages 15 26 pieces for the International Brigade Association. and 17. The IBMT Newsletter is published twice a year and is sent free to all members. Back numbers can be downloaded from the IBMT 2013subsnowdue Your bigger Newsletter website on [www.international- brigades.org. The IBMT Newsletter will now be published uk/newsletter.htm]. All content is the IBMTsubscriptionsfor2013arenowdue.Ifyou twice rather than three times a year. But copyright © of the IBMT and credited havenotalreadydoneso,pleasesendyour each issue will be much bigger than before. contributors and cannot be reproduced paymenttotheMembershipSecretaryatthe More pages will allow us to carry longer without permission. addressbelow. articles and features. Increasingly members Editor Subscriptionrateshavebeenincreasedfrom are relying on our online information serv - Jim Jump 1January2013.Seepages4(UKonly)and20(UK ice, website and Facebook page for up-to- 6 Stonells Road, London SW11 6HQ andoverseas)forthenewrates.Whenreturning date news and announcements. 020-7228 6504 yourcheque,clearlystateyournameandaddress The magazine has expanded greatly in re - [email protected] sothatthesecanbematchedwithour cent years. Until 2008 each issue had just membershiprecords. eight pages. Four more pages were then International Brigade MemorialTrust Also,pleaseconsiderpayingyoursubsbydirect added, and in 2011 we went up to 16 pages. www.international-brigades.org.uk debit.Thedirectdebitformcanbedownloadedat: During this year we also plan to revamp Charity no: 1094928 [www.international-brigades.org.uk/join.htm]. our website and all our online communica - Sendchequesorcompleteddirectdebitformsto tions media, including our YouTube and IBMTMembershipSecretary,2WoodfordClose, Flickr sites as well as our popular Facebook RadyrWay,CardiffCF52PH. page and email information service. G Foranyqueries,tel:029-20195412;email: Remember to pay your 2013 membership [[email protected]]. subscriptions so that you carry on receiving G Seeoverleaf:Whywe’vehadtoraisesubs. the IBMT Newsletter . 3 NEWS WELCOME: Ed Tyhurst, a helper at Newhaven Fort, painted this eye-catching Why we’ve had to placard advertising the IBMT’s “Antifascistas” raise membership exhibition, which was hosted at the fort in the run-up to the Trust’s subs (for the first Annual General Meeting. The IBMT is in discussions time in 12 years) with the management of Newhaven Fort – a By Jim Jump, IBMT Secretary popular Second World War visitors’ centre on the Our 2012 Annual General Meeting approved South Coast – on the possibility of a permanent an increase in membership subscription display about Sussex and rates from 1 January 2013. the Spanish Civil War and These rates have remained unchanged the links between the civil since the IBMT was created in 2001. But our war and the world war that activities and running costs have both in - immediately followed it. creased substantially. For example, standard second class postage rose by 85 per cent be - tween 2001 and 2012, while our magazine doubled in size from eight to 16 pages. In recent years we have also produced our popular “Antifascistas” travelling exhibition. Busy AGM in East Sussex More commemorative and educational events have been organised. And we have By Pauline Fraser, IBMT Trustee refurbished our magnificent national memo - rial on London’s South Bank and added a The IBMT’s 2012 Annual General Meeting was TwonewTrustees plaque beside it. held in the sunny south and, for once, it did not TherearetwonewfacesontheIBMT Although income has also increased – belie its name. Trust members discovered that, ExecutiveCommitteethatwaselectedatthe thanks to more members joining (we’ve among his many talents, Mike Anderson, who or - AnnualGeneralMeeting.TheyareDanny tripled in size over the past four years) and ganised events in East Sussex, was also a magi - Payne,whohasrunthehigh-profileMersey- cian who could conjure up fine weather. Thanks sideInternationalBrigadesNetworkfor “Standard second class to Mike, former IBMT Treasurer and Executive severalyears,andMickWhelan,General Committee member, the entire weekend went off Secretaryofthetraindrivers’unionASLEF, postage rose by 85 per cent without a hitch. astrongsupporterofthetrust. between 2001 and 2012, A video of the “Goodbye Barcelona” musical AtthesametimetheAGMrecordedthe based around the life of a young Jewish volun - Trust’ssincereappreciationfortheout- while our magazine doubled in teer from the East End got Friday night off to a standingworkofoneofourfounding size from eight to 16 pages.” cracking start at the Leaf Hall Community Arts ExecutiveCommitteemembersandTrustees, Centre in Eastbourne. Composers Judith Johnson RodneyBickerstaffe,whodidnotseekre- growing merchandise sales – this has not and Karl Lewkowicz attended the screening, electionattheAGM.HenowbecomesanIBMT been enough to offset our rising costs. which started the weekend on the right note. Patron(seereportonfacingpage). As a result, in the past two years we have On Saturday morning members staying in AlltheotherexistingTrusteeswerere- for the first time spent more than we’ve re - Eastbourne were taken by coach to Newhaven elected,includingChairDoloresLong, ceived in income. This state of affairs cannot Fort, where a short re-dedication ceremony was SecretaryJimJumpandTreasurerCharles continue, so the AGM approved the Execu - held at the bench in memory of the volunteers Jepson.Thefulllistcanbeseenonpage9. tive Committee’s decision to increase sub - who left for Spain or returned via Newhaven. scription rates by £5 a year. So the annual David Lomon, one of only two known Brigaders rates for UK-based members are now: Un - still alive, laid a wreath. The bench was first un - showed us some fascinating archive film of waged £12.50; Individual £20; Family £25. veiled by Jack Jones in 2008 and was the last labour movement events on the South Coast Non UK-based members will be notified public event of the Trust that Jack presided over. from the 1930s. separately of their new rates, which will re - Members explored the fort, where the IBMT’s Many members stayed on until Sunday and flect the additional cost of overseas postage. “Antifascistas” exhibition was on public display, took a coach to Hastings, the “Mugsborough” of I hope all members will understand why until it was time for the afternoon’s AGM. Follow - Robert Tressell’s “The Ragged Trousered Philan - we’ve had to raise subscription rates. Please ing the officers’ reports and elections, a lively but thropists”. Local historian Steve Peak guided us continue to support us in our commemora - friendly discussion ensued among the 50 or so around the town. We saw the three houses tive, educational and publicity efforts to members present. where Tressell and his daughter lived, and Steve keep alive the memory and spirit of the vol - In the evening it was back to the magnificent set the book in context of the economic condi - unteers who fought fascism and defended Eastbourne Centre hotel – owned by Unite the tions prevailing in Edwardian Hastings.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The City of Chicago – Christy Moore – Notes (1) 
    The City of Chicago – Christy Moore – Notes (1) Activity types: Discussion; gap fill; Pronunciation focus on “ch” / ʃ/, /tʃ/ and /k/; Internet search Level: Intermediate/Upper-Intermediate (Song only: Pre-Intermediate) Language: summarising and reporting historical events and geographical details; comparing; making a tourist leaflet Grammar: Past Simple (regular and irregular verbs); Note: Christy Moore, one of the best-known Irish folk singers, has made a major contribution to the development of Irish music since the 1970s. He has both re-arranged old songs and written new songs about Irish and world current events. For further details visit www.christymoore.com The song The City of Chicago, written by his brother Barry (better known as Luka Bloom) and released on the 1984 album Ride On, is about the mid-nineteenth century Irish Great Hunger or Famine, caused by repeated failure of the potato crop. Famine and emigration are recurring themes on traditional Irish songs. • Discussion: To introduce the song and create interest in the topic you can ask some of the following questions: Do you know the meaning of the words hunger and famine? Do you know any countries in the world that lack food nowadays? What do you know about the Irish Great Hunger in 1845-49? Why do you think the year 1847 was called “Black 1847”? Was Ireland an independent country at that time? Do you know where the city of Chicago and County Donegal are exactly? (Students can use a world map if available) • Explain they are going to listen to a song about the Great Famine in Ireland.
    [Show full text]
  • View Or Download Full Colour Catalogue May 2021
    VIEW OR DOWNLOAD FULL COLOUR CATALOGUE 1986 — 2021 CELEBRATING 35 YEARS Ian Green - Elaine Sunter Managing Director Accounts, Royalties & Promotion & Promotion. ([email protected]) ([email protected]) Orders & General Enquiries To:- Tel (0)1875 814155 email - [email protected] • Website – www.greentrax.com GREENTRAX RECORDINGS LIMITED Cockenzie Business Centre Edinburgh Road, Cockenzie, East Lothian Scotland EH32 0XL tel : 01875 814155 / fax : 01875 813545 THIS IS OUR DOWNLOAD AND VIEW FULL COLOUR CATALOGUE FOR DETAILS OF AVAILABILITY AND ON WHICH FORMATS (CD AND OR DOWNLOAD/STREAMING) SEE OUR DOWNLOAD TEXT (NUMERICAL LIST) CATALOGUE (BELOW). AWARDS AND HONOURS BESTOWED ON GREENTRAX RECORDINGS AND Dr IAN GREEN Honorary Degree of Doctorate of Music from the Royal Conservatoire, Glasgow (Ian Green) Scots Trad Awards – The Hamish Henderson Award for Services to Traditional Music (Ian Green) Scots Trad Awards – Hall of Fame (Ian Green) East Lothian Business Annual Achievement Award For Good Business Practises (Greentrax Recordings) Midlothian and East Lothian Chamber of Commerce – Local Business Hero Award (Ian Green and Greentrax Recordings) Hands Up For Trad – Landmark Award (Greentrax Recordings) Featured on Scottish Television’s ‘Artery’ Series (Ian Green and Greentrax Recordings) Honorary Member of The Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland and Haddington Pipe Band (Ian Green) ‘Fuzz to Folk – Trax of My Life’ – Biography of Ian Green Published by Luath Press. Music Type Groups : Traditional & Contemporary, Instrumental
    [Show full text]
  • Bob Doyle 12Th February 1916
    Bob Doyle: 12th February 1916 - 22nd January 2009: 'An Unus... http://www.indymedia.ie/article/90779 features events publish about us contact us traditional newswire Advanced Search enter search text here Bob Doyle: 12th February 1916 - 22nd January Publishing Guide 2009: 'An Unusual Communist' Recent articles by anarchaeologist Featured Stories international | miscellaneous | feature Friday January 23, 2009 23:37 Up to 600 take to the streets of Open Newswire by anarchaeologist Dublin to say farewell to Bob Doyle 11 comments Latest News The death has Opinion and Analysis Cheap winter goodies, mulled wine Press Releases occurred in London and seasonal scoff... 0 comments Event Calendar of Bob Doyle, the Other Press last surviving Irish Images of Spanish Civil War Latest Comments soldier of the XV volunteers now on line 4 comments International Photo Gallery Recent Articles about International Brigade of the Miscellaneous News Archives Spanish Hidden Articles Republican Army. The revolution delayed: 10 years of Hugo List Bob, whose health Chávezʼs rule Feb 21 09 by El Libertario, had been failing for Venezuela Videos some time had Autonomous Republic Declared in Dublin survived a recent Feb 20 09 by Citizen of the Autonomous double heart Republic of Creative Practitio attack, before Why BC performed best behind closed passing peacefully doors Feb 10 09 by Paul O' Sullivan about us | help us last night surrounded by his Upcoming Events family. He was a few weeks short of International | Miscellaneous his 93rd birthday. Apr 09 Bring back Bob's career as an APSO...for one night political activist has only! been recorded in his book Jun 14 The Brigadista, which Palestinian Summer recounted his early Celebration 2009 life in Dublin as a Republican volunteer and later New Events as a member of the Bob Doyle International Republican Congress, prior to his abortive first attempt to fight against Franco in July 1937, which saw him stow away on a 06 Mar International ship to Valencia.
    [Show full text]
  • Rosemary Lane the Pentangle Magazine
    Rosemary Lane the pentangle magazine Issue No 12 Summer 1997 Rosemary Lane Editorial... (thanks, but which season? and we'd Seasonal Greetings! rather have had the mag earlier!) o as the summer turns into autumn here we extensive are these re-issues of the Transatlantic are once more with the latest on Pentangle years - with over 30 tracks on each double CD in Rosemary Lane. In what now seems to be that the juxtaposition of the various musical its characteristic mode of production - i.e. long styles is frequently quite startling and often overdue and much anticipated - thanks for the refreshing in reminding you just how broad the reminders! - we nevertheless have some tasty Pentangle repertoire was in both its collective morsels of Pentangular news and music despite and individual manifestations. More on these the fact that all three current recording projects by in news and reviews. Bert and John and Jacqui remain works in progress - (see, Rosemary Lane is not the only venture that runs foul of the limitations of one human being!). there’s a piece this time round from a young Nonetheless Bert has in fact recorded around 15 admirer of Bert’s who tells how he sounds to the or 16 tracks from which to choose material and in ears of a teenage fan of the likes of Morrissey and the interview on page 11 - Been On The Road So Pulp. And while many may be busy re-cycling Long! - he gives a few clues as to what the tracks Pentangle recordings, Peter Noad writes on how are and some intriguing comments on the feel of Jacqui and band have been throwing themselves the album.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Anti-Fascism in Britain Through Autobiography from 1930
    Exploring Anti-Fascism in Britain Through Autobiography from 1930 to 1936 Submitted in fulfilment for the Master of Research degree awarded by Bournemouth University Submitted July 2021 Lottie Olivia Smith Copyright Statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and due acknowledgement must always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this thesis. 1 Abstract The principle aim of this thesis is to explore and examine the way anti-fascist activists in the 1930s represented themselves, the movement, and their social and political communities through autobiography. It establishes a deeper understanding of the practical outworking of their philosophy and ethos. It is hoped that this piece of work will build on and add to scholarship that already exists around the usefulness of using memory sources in historical research. This will be achieved by focusing on the retelling of stories from ordinary people who lived during this time. During the inter-war years, the anti-fascist movement achieved its peak in 1930-1936, therefore this thesis is limited to those years. In 1936 the Battle of Cable Street contributed to a decline in British Union of Fascists’ activity and support; this became a climatic event for the movement. The research stops here as following this event the anti-fascist movement became much more complex due to World War 2 and the breakdown of the Communist Party. Whilst the autobiographies studied cover many international events and activities; this thesis will be limited to what happened in Britain during this period.
    [Show full text]
  • Crucibles of Virtue and Vice: the Acculturation of Transatlantic Army Officers, 1815-1945
    CRUCIBLES OF VIRTUE AND VICE: THE ACCULTURATION OF TRANSATLANTIC ARMY OFFICERS, 1815-1945 John F. Morris Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2020 © 2020 John F. Morris All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Crucibles of Virtue and Vice: The Acculturation of Transatlantic Army Officers, 1815-1945 John F. Morris Throughout the long nineteenth century, the European Great Powers and, after 1865, the United States competed for global dominance, and they regularly used their armies to do so. While many historians have commented on the culture of these armies’ officer corps, few have looked to the acculturation process itself that occurred at secondary schools and academies for future officers, and even fewer have compared different formative systems. In this study, I home in on three distinct models of officer acculturation—the British public schools, the monarchical cadet schools in Imperial Germany, Austria, and Russia, and the US Military Academy—which instilled the shared and recursive sets of values and behaviors that constituted European and American officer cultures. Specifically, I examine not the curricula, policies, and structures of the schools but the subterranean practices, rituals, and codes therein. What were they, how and why did they develop and change over time, which values did they transmit and which behaviors did they perpetuate, how do these relate to nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century social and cultural phenomena, and what sort of ethos did they produce among transatlantic army officers? Drawing on a wide array of sources in three languages, including archival material, official publications, letters and memoirs, and contemporary nonfiction and fiction, I have painted a highly detailed picture of subterranean life at the institutions in this study.
    [Show full text]
  • The Anarchist Collectives Workers’ Self-Management in the Spanish Revolution, 1936–1939
    The Anarchist Collectives Workers’ Self-Management in the Spanish Revolution, 1936–1939 Sam Dolgoff (editor) 1974 Contents Preface 7 Acknowledgements 8 Introductory Essay by Murray Bookchin 9 Part One: Background 28 Chapter 1: The Spanish Revolution 30 The Two Revolutions by Sam Dolgoff ....................................... 30 The Bolshevik Revolution vs The Russian Social Revolution . 35 The Trend Towards Workers’ Self-Management by Sam Dolgoff ....................................... 36 Chapter 2: The Libertarian Tradition 41 Introduction ............................................ 41 The Rural Collectivist Tradition by Sam Dolgoff ....................................... 41 The Anarchist Influence by Sam Dolgoff ....................................... 44 The Political and Economic Organization of Society by Isaac Puente ....................................... 46 Chapter 3: Historical Notes 52 The Prologue to Revolution by Sam Dolgoff ....................................... 52 On Anarchist Communism ................................. 55 On Anarcho-Syndicalism .................................. 55 The Counter-Revolution and the Destruction of the Collectives by Sam Dolgoff ....................................... 56 Chapter 4: The Limitations of the Revolution 63 Introduction ............................................ 63 2 The Limitations of the Revolution by Gaston Leval ....................................... 63 Part Two: The Social Revolution 72 Chapter 5: The Economics of Revolution 74 Introduction ...........................................
    [Show full text]
  • Jessica Mitford
    Jessica Mitford: An Inventory of Her Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Descriptive Summary Creator Mitford, Jessica, 1917-1996 Title Jessica Mitford Papers Dates: 1949-1973 Extent 67 document boxes, 3 note card boxes, 7 galley files, 1 oversize folder (27 linear feet) Abstract: Correspondence, printed material, reports, notes, interviews, manuscripts, legal documents, and other materials represent Jessica Mitford's work on her three investigatory books and comprise the bulk of these papers. Language English. Access Open for research Administrative Information Acquisition Purchase, 1973 Processed by Donald Firsching, Amanda McCallum, Jana Pellusch, 1990 Repository: Harry Ransom Center University of Texas at Austin Mitford, Jessica, 1917-1996 Biographical Sketch Born September 11, 1917, in Batsford, Gloucestershire, England, Jessica Mitford is one of the six daughters of the Baron of Redesdale. The Mitfords are a well-known English family with a reputation for eccentricity. Of the Mitford sisters, Nancy achieved notoriety as a novelist and biographer. Diana married Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British fascists before World War II. Unity, also a fascist sympathizer, attempted suicide when Britain and Germany went to war. Deborah became the Duchess of Devonshire. Jessica, whose political bent ran opposite to that of her sisters, ran away to Loyalist Spain with her cousin, Esmond Romilly, during the Spanish Civil War. Jessica eventually married Romilly, who was killed during World War II. In 1943, Mitford married a labor lawyer, Robert Treuhaft, while working for the Office of Price Administration in Washington, D.C. The couple soon moved to Oakland, California, where they joined the Communist Party. In California, Mitford worked as executive secretary for the Civil Rights Congress and taught sociology at San Jose State University.
    [Show full text]
  • Christy Moore and the Irish Protest Ballad
    “Ordinary Man”: Christy Moore and the Irish Protest Ballad MIKE INGHAM Introduction: Contextualizing the Modern Ballad In his critical study, The Long Revolution, Raymond Williams identified three definitions of culture, namely idealist, documentary, and social. He conceives of them as integrated strands of a holistic, organic cultural process pertaining to the “common associative life”1 of which creative artworks are an inalienable part. His renowned “structure of feeling” concept is closely related to this theoretical paradigm. The ballad tradition of popular and protest song in many ethnic cultural traditions exemplifies the core of Williams’s argument: it synthesizes the ideal aesthetic of the traditional folk song form as cultural production, the documentary element of the people, places, and events that the song records and the contextual resonances of the ballad’s source and target cultures. Likewise, the persistence and durability of the form over many centuries have ensured its survival as a rich source for ethnographic studies and an index of prevailing socio-political conditions and concerns. As twentieth-century commentators on the Anglophone ballad form, such as A. L. Lloyd, have observed, there is an evident distinction between the older ballad tradition, tending toward a more impersonal and distanced voice and perspective, and the more personal style of ballad composed after the anthropological research of ethnomusicologists such as Cecil Sharp, Alan Lomax, and others during the first half of the twentieth century. The former derives from a continuous lineage of predominantly anonymous or unattributed folk material that can be said to reside in the public domain, and largely resists recuperation or commodification by the music industry.
    [Show full text]
  • Lights and Shadows in George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia
    Paul Preston Lights and shadows in George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia Article (Accepted version) (Refereed) Original citation: Preston, Paul (2017) Lights and shadows in George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. Bulletin of Spanish Studies. ISSN 1475-3820 DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2018.1388550 © 2017 The Author This version available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/85333/ Available in LSE Research Online: November 2017 LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (http://eprints.lse.ac.uk) of the LSE Research Online website. This document is the author’s final accepted version of the journal article. There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from it. Lights and Shadows in George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia PAUL PRESTON London School of Economics Despite its misleading title, Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia is almost certainly the most sold and most read book about the Spanish Civil War. It is a vivid and well-written account of some fragments of the war by an acute witness.
    [Show full text]
  • Tom Stoppard
    Tom Stoppard: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Descriptive Summary Creator: Stoppard, Tom Title: Tom Stoppard Papers 1939-2000 (bulk 1970-2000) Dates: 1939-2000 (bulk 1970-2000) Extent: 149 document cases, 9 oversize boxes, 9 oversize folders, 10 galley folders (62 linear feet) Abstract: The papers of this British playwright consist of typescript and handwritten drafts, revision pages, outlines, and notes; production material, including cast lists, set drawings, schedules, and photographs; theatre programs; posters; advertisements; clippings; page and galley proofs; dust jackets; correspondence; legal documents and financial papers, including passports, contracts, and royalty and account statements; itineraries; appointment books and diary sheets; photographs; sheet music; sound recordings; a scrapbook; artwork; minutes of meetings; and publications. Call Number: Manuscript Collection MS-4062 Language English Access Open for research Administrative Information Acquisition Purchases and gifts, 1991-2000 Processed by Katherine Mosley, 1993-2000 Repository: Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin Stoppard, Tom Manuscript Collection MS-4062 Biographical Sketch Playwright Tom Stoppard was born Tomas Straussler in Zlin, Czechoslovakia, on July 3, 1937. However, he lived in Czechoslovakia only until 1939, when his family moved to Singapore. Stoppard, his mother, and his older brother were evacuated to India shortly before the Japanese invasion of Singapore in 1941; his father, Eugene Straussler, remained behind and was killed. In 1946, Stoppard's mother, Martha, married British army officer Kenneth Stoppard and the family moved to England, eventually settling in Bristol. Stoppard left school at the age of seventeen and began working as a journalist, first with the Western Daily Press (1954-58) and then with the Bristol Evening World (1958-60).
    [Show full text]
  • A Process of Radicalisation: Ideologies of Revolution Within the Anglophone International Brigades
    James Mair A process of radicalisation: Ideologies of Revolution within the Anglophone International Brigades Introduction The International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War have attracted admiration and scorn in from both sides of the political spectrum, either being held up as paragons of anti-fascist internationalism or as dupes of the Comintern who were dogmatically loyal to the whims of Moscow. No matter which position one takes in this debate, it is undeniable that the International Brigades were heavily influenced by Communism, and, as such, generally remained loyal to Stalin and the Soviet Union throughout the war (many upheld Marxism- Leninism until the very end of their lives). However, the extent to which volunteers, and the broader Republican war effort, subordinated themselves to Soviet political imperatives is a more complex question that reveals several interesting conclusions regarding the structure of working class anti-fascism. Traditional histories of the Spanish conflict have only relatively recently begun to pose a serious challenge to the narratives of communist treason contained in books by Burnett Bolloten and Stanley Payne, with the effort primarily being headed by Paul Preston and Helen Graham.1 The International Brigades have always received more generous treatment than any of the Spanish Communists from historians, but very few people have considered this in the context of the Republican experiences of anti-fascist warfare. Domestic and international solidarity during this period was usually constructed on the basis of multi- tendency political coalitions, and as such, militant opposition to the Francoist counterrevolution produced radically transformative political relations. This essay will have a particular focus on the British Battalion of the XV International Brigade, a group of men who saw fierce action at Jarama, Brunete, Belchite, Teruel and the Ebro (references to other Anglophone units will be made when appropriate to the overall narrative).
    [Show full text]