Reddit reviews Homage to Catalonia

Clandestines is good, although its nonfiction: http://www.akpress.org/2006/items/clandestines

days and nights of love and war (not to be confused with the crimething book) is good as well, also nonfiction: http://www.amazon.com/Days-Nights-Love-Eduardo-Galeano/dp/1583670238

Homage to catalonia (spanish civil war by george orwell): http://www.amazon.com/Homage-Catalonia-George-Orwell/dp/0156421178

hmm, sorry, can't think of any 'fiction' off the top of my head though. If i do think of any i'll message you.

http://www.amazon.com/Homage-Catalonia-George-Orwell/dp/0156421178/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415647913&sr=1-1&keywords=homage+to+catalonia

I can give you a short list of personal favorites, books that I consider both informative and extremely interesting / entertaining to read. As you'll see I prefer memoirs and eyewitness accounts to sweeping historical overviews of the war.

With the Old Breed, E.B. Sledge. Personal memoir of the author's experience as a marine machine gunner in the Pacific war, specifically the campaigns on Peleliu and Okinawa. Sledge is a marvelous writer with prose I'd describe as "Hemingwayesque", a real compliment. Grueling, appalling, human, his account does a great job of sketching in the personalities of his fellow marines.

"The Good War": An Oral History of World War II, Studs Terkel. This is the book that World War Z is aping, but the actual book is a far more gripping read. Terkel sat down for personal interviews with 121 survivors of the war, Germans, Japanese, British, Canadian as well as American.

Band Of Brothers, Stephen Ambrose. Now made famous by the TV series, the story of E Company's recruitment, training and ultimate combat experience during and after the Normandy invasion is as intense and eye-opening as it sounds.

Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War, Leo Marks. Marks was a cryptographer working in London for the SOE (special operations executive, the group responsible for running much of "The Resistance" throughout occupied Europe, North Africa and Asia). He's a very funny guy, a self-professed coward, but the book portrays his deeply heartfelt concern for the well-being of the agents he was sending behind enemy lines. His codes, and methods of transmitting them, could be the only thing saving them from capture by the Gestapo. All too often, they weren't enough. "If you brief an agent on the Tuesday and three days later his eyes are taken out with a fork, it hastens the aging process," he writes.

Stalingrad, Anthony Beevor. When you start to read about the Eastern Front, you realize that much of the conventional western perspective of WWII in Europe is based on the comparatively minor engagements in Italy and France. France lost 350,000 civilians to the war, The Soviet Union lost 15-20 million. Considered purely from the POV of total casualties and total armed forces committed, WWII was primarily an engagement between Germany and the Soviet Union throughout Eastern Europe, with a number of smaller actions in the western countries. Anyhow, the story of the brutal, grinding siege of Stalingrad, the point where the German tide definitively turned, is a must-read.

Homage To Catalonia, George Orwell. This is Orwell's personal account of his service fighting on the Republican side against fascists during the Spanish Civil War from 1936-37. Basically, this was the war before the war, as described by one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Incidentally Hemingway's novel For Whom The Bell Tolls is a fairly accurate, very powerful portrayal of a different view of the same war.

He fought for POUM in the Spanish civil war, which was a marxist, communist political party and fought alongside the anarchist CNT.

Homage to Catalonia gives a lot of insight into the Spanish civil war (a war I knew very little about)- it's a very good book.

Read Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. It's a first-hand account of his time fighting alongside anarchist militia during the Spanish Civil War, and provides some good insight into how anarchists function during a wartime/revolutionary scenario.

Markets, Not Capitalism by various authors and essayists, collected by The Center for a Stateless Society

Homage to Catalonia by to often quoted and praised yet very much Socialist who wishes he could have joined the Anarchists: George Orwell

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. What? I fucking love The Lord of the Rings. It's probably my favorite book(s) ever. Fine, want to make it political?

• There are two novels that can transform a bookish 14-year-kid’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish daydream that can lead to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood in which large chunks of the day are spent inventing ways to make real life more like a fantasy novel. The other is a book about orcs.
  -John Rogers

Well you've come to the right place, then!

For a cursory treatment of these ideas, like with many ideas, wikipedia is a good starting point.

History of capitalism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_capitalism#Origins_of_capitalism

Enclosure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure

History of modern policing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police#Early_modern_policing

Peter Kropotkin's The Conquest of Bread is kind of the go to introduction to classical anarchism. Its a good book, and it details the relationship between capitalism, the owner class, the working class, and police, as well as discussing alternatives to the our current social configuration: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23428/23428-h/23428-h.htm

The Conquest of Bread is also available as a free audiobook: https://librivox.org/search?title=The+Conquest+of+Bread&author=Kropotkin&reader=&keywords=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=&sort_order=catalog_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced

The concepts of biopower and the spectacle are developed by the writers Michel Foucault and Guy Debord respectively. Their writing can be a little dense, but these concepts and their authors have wikipedia pages which make these ideas a little more accessible:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopower

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacle_%28critical_theory%29

Also, this is a reading of Debord's Society of the Spectacle laid over a collage of contemporary footage which conveys the concepts discussed. This is a sort of remake of a film Debord himself made in the '70s. Very very cool: https://vimeo.com/60328678

Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) also happens to be an historian and has produced an excellent documentary about medieval Europe. In the first episode he discusses the lives of the peasantry which is somewhat relevant to this discussion. There are certainly aspects of medieval living that I'm not keen to revive. But there is a nugget of gold in that form of life that we've lost in our contemporary context. Anarchists want a return to that sense of autonomy and deep social bonds within communities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTWsUvT8nsw

An Anarchist FAQ is a very thorough, contemporary, and systematized introduction to anarchist ideas: http://anarchism.pageabode.com/afaq/index.html

Noam Chomsky's On Anarchism is an accessible introduction to anarchism that focuses on a modern, large-scale, industrial anarchist society that existed in Spain in the 1930s, to illustrate the concepts underpinning anarchist thought. It's a bit of hokey in parts, especially in the little chapter introductions which are just quotes from Q&A sessions with Dr. Chomsky. But if you can get past that, its good: https://www.amazon.com/Anarchism-Noam-Chomsky/dp/1595589104

Chomsky also wrote Manufacturing Consent and Profit Over People, which are much less shallow than On Anarchism, and document how the state maintains a facade of legitimacy and some of the things that the contemporary state (circa 1999... its a little out of date, but not terrible in that respect) does to sophisticate the relationship between owner and worker. Chomsky is probably best known publicly for those two texts, but he has a lot of work in a lot of different fields. He's a pretty prolific intellectual with numerous contributions to political theory, linguistics, cognitive theory, philosophy, and computer science.

Richard Wolff is an economist who has taught at Yale, UMass, City College NY, and is currently teaching at New School. He does a monthly update on global capitalism where he kind of tries to give a bird's eye view of how our global economy shifts and develops from month to month. He also does weekly updates too, but I can never manage to stay up to date on those: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdMCTlHl5RQ&t=1836s

Anthropologist David Harvey's book 17 Contradictions and the End of Capitalism details many of the ways in which capitalism appears to be constantly fighting against itself for survival, all the while heightening the conditions which cause capitalism to become precarious in the first place: https://www.amazon.com/Seventeen-Contradictions-Capitalism-David-Harvey/dp/0190230851

This is a film about where capitalism is headed, and what it will look like in 2030: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vApEgrLf7S4

Encirclement: Neoliberalism Ensnares Democracy is a documentary which discusses some of the ways that capitalism post-1968 has shifted so as to wrest more power away from communities. Its very similar to Noam Chomsky's Power Over People, and Chomsky is featured prominently alongside several other intellectuals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh44qlii6X4

We Are All Very Anxious is a really cool and short text by anonymous writers about how the different stages of capitalism impact the psychiatric health of the individual. Its availible as a free text, or as a short audiobook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP_5NlY-4mI

This is Albert Einstien's short introductory essay on socialism called Why Socialism. Its not an advocacy of Anarchism per se, and I'm skeptical about the (admitedly vague) path to socialism that he lays out. But some of the concerns he raises at the end of the essay are problems that Anarchism aims to directly address: https://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism/

George Orwell (author of 1984 and Animal Farm) spent time living in and fighting for the Spanish Anarchist society that Chomsky focuses on in On Anarchism, and he documents his experiences in his memoir, Homage to Catalonia: https://www.amazon.com/Homage-Catalonia-George-Orwell/dp/0156421178

The Take, by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis is a film that documents a growth of anarchist factories, offices, and communities following the 2001 financial collapse in Argentina. Today these communities still exist and control hundreds of workplaces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOCsfEYqsYs

This is a short film about the anarchist nation of Rojava (northern syria, western kurdistan) which formed in 2013 in the midsts of the Syrian civil war, and is currently the primary boots on the ground in the fight against ISIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p40M1WSwNk&t=8s

Since the early-mid '90s most of Chiapas, Mexico has operated as an anarchist society in direct defiance of the Mexican government and NAFTA. In addition to providing for their own communities, Chiapas is also the 8th largest producer of coffee in the world. This is a short documentary about that society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HAw8vqczJw&t=2s

This is a children's film about the same people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDNuzFQW3uI&t=463s

Resistencia is a documentary about anarchist communities emerging in Honduras in the wake of the 2009 US-backed coup: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/resistencia

Marx' Capital is a foundational text in modern socialist thought. It lacks some of the cool ideas of the 20th century (a genealogy of morality, the spectacle, and biopower as examples) but is very thorough in providing an economic critique of capitalism. Capital is dense, massive (three volumes long), and incomplete, but David Harvey has a great series of lectures which go along with the texts: http://davidharvey.org/2008/06/marxs-capital-class-01/

This is another pretty dense one, but if you watch that lecture series and/or read Capital, Kevin Carson's Studies in Mutualist Political Economy is an interesting follow up text. Carson looks at the plethora of arguments that have developed since the publication of capital which try to recuperate economics to before Marx' critique. In it he discusses and critiques subjective value theory, marginalism, and time preference, which all ultimately argue in different ways that the the prices of goods are determined primarily by demand, rather than the cost of production, a rejection of an important conjecture in classical economics which Marx' critique incorporates. Carson's overarching critique of these responses to Marx and the Marxian approach isn't that these demand-focused understandings of value are entirely wrong or useless, but that as critiques of classical cost theory of value they kind of lose sight of what Marx and the classicals were actually saying. While demand is an important aspect of production, Smith, Ricardo, Marx, etc... are looking at the case where supply and demand have reached equilibrium. While demand may be a determining factor of price where this isn't the case, we know that competitive commodity markets tend towards a supply/demand equilibrium, so an analysis of the equilibrium case is useful for analyzing the form that markets take in the long-term. You can justify small gains through market arbitrage for example, or the way we value art and other unique works by looking at demand, but its not as useful for understanding how someone can see consistent long-term gains through investment: https://c4ss.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/MPE.pdf

In this post I provide a summary of some of the ideas that Carson discusses thats not anywhere nearly as thorough as Carson, but isn't quite as condensed as the above paragraph (If you look closely, you'll notice I recycled some of my earlier post from this one): https://www.reddit.com/r/CapitalismVSocialism/comments/53e0e8/socialists_from_ltv_to_exploitation/d7scmya/

(cont...)

George Orwell is one of the great nonfiction authors. His work is compelling, beautiful. The first recommended is often Homage To Catalonia, which was his account of the Spanish civil war. It's not quite the story you are seeking, but his writing style is incredibly accessible, and his language and pacing certainly do read as story-like.

I will answer part of your question.

The Spanish Civil War is a fascinating topic. If you want any reading on it, just check out some of the following books:

Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. It is a first hand account of Orwell's experience in the war. It was quite fascinating to read about the different political views of people and the various issues which the Republican forces faced internally, as well as externally. It also gives you a first person perspective into the May Days in Barcelona.

The Battle for Spain is by Antony Beevors. I have picked it up and am currently about halfway through it. It is quite good, and it examines the various causes of the war, and the players associated with it.

This website lists other books although I have not read the others which are on that list, so I would not comment on their quality.

Also, don't be afraid to check out Picasso and Frederico Garcia Lorca. Popular artist and poet respectively, their works were heavily influence by the war.

Now, on to other wonderful things. If you still have an interest in the Spanish Civil War, after you read more on the subject, I would recommend the film Tierra y Libertad, or "Land and Freedom". It somewhat mirrors Orwells book, and it is actually a good look at the various people who took part in the war. One scene was particularly interesting, and that was the scene where a town was liberated, and the townspeople had to decide whether or not they would collectivize the farmland (basically a communist revolution, everyone works the land equally and gets the same amount) or to divide up the land and give everyone just a little bit more than what they had previously. This was a major issue during the war and actually caused a rift amongst the Republican forces, leading to (literal) internal fighting. The idea of revolution now vs. revolution later was a huge issue during the war, and this one scene (though fictional) was a good example of it. (I only recommend the film because it was a good cap to the subject. I wouldn't consider citing it as historical fact, as in I cannot say for certain these events happened, however, the scene mentioned was, in my opinion, a good example of the various sentiments which caused divides amongst the Republican Forces.)

As for the questions about WWII, please consult the Popular Questions Page.

An interesting first person account of this would be George Orwell's (a Brit) Homage to Catalonia

Quite informed. I'm a Catalan :-)

Suggestions:

• Barcelona, Catalonia: A View from the Inside by Matthew Tree an English guy who has been living here for many years and is a writer (in both Catalan and English).
  
  
• What's up with Catalonia?: The causes which impel them to the separation cured by Liz Castro, from the US, but a compilation of texts mostly written by Catalans.
  
  
• What Catalans Want (B&W): Could Catalonia be Europe's Next State? by Toni Strubell, a pro independence activist. Take a look at the reviews.
  
  
• The deplorable history of the Catalans, from their first engaging in the war, to the time of their reduction. With the motives, declarations, and engagements, on which they first took arms written in the 18th century, about the succession war and how the Brittish betrayed us.
  
  
• Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. Just an episode of history, 1936-1939, and not really centered in Catalonia, but worth reading.
  
  
• Homage to Barcelona same title, but nothing to do with the previous one. By Irish writer Colm Tóibín, an introduction to Catalan culture and history.

I really recommend my favorite George Orwell book, Homage to Catalonia, about his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.

You need to learn your history. The last time that was tried was in Spain after a fascist coup. The socialist and anarchist resistance was later sold out by Stalin.

Анархо-синдикалізм ніколи не був метою непорушного союзу. Комунізм був, гегемонія пролетаріату була. Анархо-синдикалізм ні.

Більше того совєтські комуністи об'єднались з іспанськими монархістами в 1937 аби придушити суспільство анархо-синдикалістів в Каталонії. Орвел був свідком цих подій. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0156421178/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=34078847231&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1652952024868718721&hvpone=3.65&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_6hgkfj8ivl_b

https://www.amazon.com/Homage-Catalonia-George-Orwell/dp/0156421178

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5470.1984

I'm surprised that in 5 years of study you never came across any of this stuff. Or maybe you weren't quite clever enough to understand it? Have you even read the Eco article I've already linked twice yet? Oh dear, I wasn't aware you had special needs; I'll give you a few months to catch up.

Hey, anarchy worked pretty well the last time