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‘What Have You Done for Victory?’

A Cultural History of the Spanish Civil War

Ranging across media, the first comprehensive overview of the cultural output of the Spanish Civil War. 

The Spanish Civil War (1936–9) inspired an extraordinary range of cultural production, from literature, theater, cinema, journalism, and radio to visual art, song, dance, memoir, and comics. This book—the first comprehensive study of the war’s cultural output—considers works by both Spanish and foreign supporters of the Republic and Franco’s forces, with particular attention paid to women’s contributions, to reveal a conflict more complex than conventional narratives suggest. The book highlights how culture became a weapon in the fight against fascism while reflecting the passions, anxieties, and ideals of the era and since. By combining well-known and lesser-known works across all media, it offers a nuanced and accessible portrait of a global struggle that continues to shape our understanding of political and cultural engagement.


504 pages | 130 color plates | 6.14 x 9.21 | © 2026

History: European History, Military History


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Reviews

“This book is a tour de force: based on exhaustive, rigorous research, it is a highly readable, ambitious, and thought-provoking cultural history of the Spanish war, including its lead-up, international dimensions, and long-term consequences in both Spain and elsewhere.” 

Sebastiaan Faber, professor of Hispanic studies at Oberlin College and author of “Memory Battles of the Spanish Civil War”

‘What Have You Done for Victory?’ is excellent, rigorous, and well written. While it doesn’t claim to be comprehensive, it will open doors to a wide area of cultural research in a manner that belies this claim—it is admirably wide-ranging yet precise in the materials it analyses.”

Alison Ribeiro de Menezes, professor of Hispanic studies at the University of Warwick and author of “Embodying Memory in Contemporary Spain”

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