European History Quarterly 2016, Vol. 46(2) 327–418 ! The Author(s) 2016 Book Reviews Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0265691416637313 ehq.sagepub.com Peter Anderson and Miguel A´ ngel del Arco Blanco, eds, Mass Killings and Violence in Spain, 1936–1952: Grappling with the Past, Routledge: New York, 2014; 234 pp.; 9780415858885, £90.00 (hbk) Reviewed by: Daniel Oviedo Silva, Nottingham University, UK The violence unleashed during the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath remains one of the most contested and prolific historiographical domains of recent times. Significantly, as the title of this volume implies, over the last 15 years the focus of specialist literature has shifted gradually away from the question of physical elimination to the study of a wider range of violent practices. The editors have suggestively captured this spirit by assembling a cross-generational group of British and Spanish scholars in a bid to challenge deep-rooted interpretations and con- tribute to a heated social debate. In their respective original overviews, the partici- pants offer a fine combination of introduction to the field and interrogation of the manifold aspects of the repression through detailed case studies. Though the ana- lyses often go beyond the limits set in order to establish revealing parallels with other places, times and themes, this 10-chapter book is classically arranged in four parts: ‘Rebel Violence’, ‘Violence in the Republican Zone’, ‘Repression and Resistance in the Post-War Period’ and ‘Facing the Past’. The difference in space devoted to Republican and Francoist repression is rightfully explained by noting their asymmetric scale, impact and provenance. Several of the authors also engage actively in these ongoing discussions, disputing both new and long-standing efforts to downplay Francoist repression and to overemphasize the role of the Republican authorities in atrocities. The introduction is followed by a set of insightful chapters on rebel violence, starting with Paul Preston’s assessment of General Queipo de Llano’s contradict- ory personal, professional and political life before, during and after the war. The author describes an extremely violent and mendacious character but, most import- antly, he provides a revealing portrait of the man in charge of a territory where 45,000 lives were cut short. Francisco Cobo Romero and Teresa Marı´ a Ortega Lo´ pez examine how Francoist authorities – crucially with the assistance of part of the population – implemented diverse forms of gendered repression. Their chap- ter demonstrates that imprisonment, public humiliation, social marginalization and killings were aimed at paving the way for the reestablishment of traditional gender relations, which had been severely disrupted during the previous decades. 328 European History Quarterly 46(2) Peter Anderson offers an innovative approach to the rationale behind the institu- tionalization of rebel military justice in the Spanish Civil War. He convincingly argues that the rebels’ need to present themselves externally as the non-violent alternative has to be factored in to explain the organization of the military pros- ecutions system. He does this while refuting the suggestion that the introduction of this system meant sufficient legal guarantees or a significant decline in violent practices. Chapters 5 and 6 address Republican violence, a field that has partly spear- headed the renewal of Civil War studies shedding light on the motivations, authors and changing processes involved. After decades of generalizing and sketchy nar- ratives that are still deep-seated across the political and historiographical board, this emerging literature proves vital. Both chapters discard the idea that anonym- ous, irrational and uncontrolled ‘hordes’ were responsible for most of the violence, emphasizing the need to unpick the complex tapestry of social and political actors, motivations and stages present during the conflict. In the case of Ma´ laga, Lucı´ a Prieto Borrego and Encarnacio´ n Barranquero Texeira analyze the intricate and non-exclusive relationship between the micro-powers formed after the outbreak of the conflict and the institutions put in place by the state to regain control of the coercive apparatus. Maria Thomas’ chapter tackles anticlerical violence and icono- clasm with a particular focus on Madrid and Almerı´ a. She identifies and examines the various functions that anticlerical actions fulfilled, including the violent and very visual sanctioning of a new order, the redefinition of community bonds and boundaries and the securing of political spaces in a context of shifting power relations. Chapters 6, 7 and 8 introduce the study of post-war Francoist repression and resistance. Gutmaro Go´ mez Bravo takes on prison policies, closely scrutinizing the role of the Spanish Church in both providing the theological framework to under- pin mass imprisonment and effectively assuming the organization of a system modelled after Catholic doctrine to ‘redeem’ inmates/sinners. More broadly, he examines long-term control through penal punishment and local networks pains- takingly put in place in order to ensure post-penitentiary constraints. Miguel A´ ngel del Arco Blanco begins by describing the ‘victory culture’ as a shared set of values and understandings underlying social cohesion and exclusion, values that simul- taneously oiled the wheels of violence and rested upon it. Building upon this notion, del Arco then examines everyday grassroots forms of cultural, moral and economic violence and resistance to conclude that ‘the struggle continued’ well after the end of the war. This was certainly the case with the guerrilla movements – themselves a violence-riddled phenomenon – whose repression-related origins and evolution Jorge Marco ably summarizes. Marco proceeds to explore how common European narratives of the Resistance have eschewed what he calls the Spanish ‘neighbours in arms’ and ‘political guerrilla’ experiences to conceal the fact that post-war European states tolerated Franco’s regime. He finally advocates inclusive but decentralized research on resistances (lower case and plural) to over- throw monolithic narratives. Book Reviews 329 The last two chapters address how Spain’s traumatic past has been remembered and historicized, paying close attention to underlying methodological and concep- tual tools. Michael Richards supports the use of ‘social memory’ as a category that is well suited to accounting for the complex ways in which the past is thought of and can avoid static and simplistic representations. As a result, he advocates a historical way of understanding memory that brings experience to the fore and highlights the importance of generation, gender, neighbourhood and family as relevant analysis criteria. It is worth mentioning Richards’ assessment of intimate violence and its dramatic effects on the memory of communities. Antonio Mı´ guez Macho reflects on the suitability of various conceptual tools for the study of trau- matic pasts against the backdrop of their links with post-dictatorship justice and the public uses of history. Mı´ guez attacks a top-down understanding of repression that focuses primarily on state violence and fails to tackle individual culpability as did the reconciliatory narratives and the transition amnesty policies. He proposes applying the term ‘genocidal practices’ to Francoist violence and comparing it to that unleashed by other dictatorial regimes, arguing that this would allow us to address these shortcomings, thus putting an end to denial and impunity. All contributors are worthy exponents of renewed trends in the analysis of state repression and social attitudes towards violence and offer innovative themes and approaches. The authors draw on up-to-date Spanish and international literature and a varied set of archival materials that in some cases have only recently been noticed or become available. Significantly, some of the chapters serve to show that this field of study is gradually emerging from the geographical, chronological and disciplinary isolation that has plagued it for decades. In short, and even though it could have benefited from a comprehensive theory-oriented opening chapter, there is little doubt that this book makes a very important contribution to its field. Nicholas Berg, The Holocaust and the West German Historians: Historical Interpretation and Autobiographical Memory, trans. and ed. Joel Golb, University of Wisconsin Press: Madison, WI, 2015; 346 pp., 4 b/w photographs; 9780299300845, $34.95 (pbk) Reviewed by: Andrew G. Bonnell, University of Queensland, Australia When Nicolas Berg’s study of the relationship between ‘autobiographical memory’ and the historical interpretation of the Holocaust first appeared in 2003, it gener- ated a wave of controversy and debate, largely on account of its provocative sug- gestions of links between the historical work of some of post-war West Germany’s most prominent contemporary historians and their own personal entanglements as younger men in the Nazi regime. Some of the key texts in this debate can still be located online on the website H-Soz-Kult. The book, itself a revised version of a Freiburg university dissertation, went through three editions in two years, with some further revisions along the way. The new English translation and edition is a notably more compact version of the German edition, which weighed in at over 700 pages. 330 European History Quarterly 46(2) The English-language edition marks