It's times like these that I wish the sky would make up its mind about what it wants to do. Personally, I would love some rain; provided it's a long, nourishing rain. Anyway, tomorrow I'm finally done with this long, lean summer. The lacuna has been crossed and I am going back to work. No kids until mid-September but that means I have plenty of time to get my head into the game and as many books added to the system and processed as possible. The pandemic cut me back a fair bit but now (provided our numbers go back down and people follow the guidelines) I am back on the chain gang and gladly awaiting my shackles. Being fettered keeps me in fine fettle.
I finished reading 'The battle for Spain' by Antony Beevor. The Spanish Civil War inspired Picasso to create his terrible (in that it instills dismay - not because it was poorly done) 'Guernica'. I finished reading Graham Greene's 'Monsignor Quixote' before that, and many places mentioned in the former book came up in the latter. **** out of ***** for the latter, by the way. The nationalists (backed by il Duce and the Nazis) vs. the republicans (backed by the Supreme Soviet) fighting for control. Either way, the Spaniards lost. It was not that the nationalists won (spoiler!) but that the republicans lost. Generalissimo Franco reigned for years after that war.
SMH but the republicans kept screwing up! Anyway, 'The battle for Spain' explodes with detail and is well-written. Pros and cons to each side but the nationalists had fewer cons than pros. If the battle had gone on any longer, perhaps the republicans would have won because the war ended just before WWII began. The Axis, which was backing Franco and his amigos, would have lost in the end to the Allies. Of course, once WWII started, Hitler came calling for Spanish forces and Franco helped him as much as he could. History is written by the winners, it is said. However, Beevor noted that most of his research came from the losing side. The adage does not always prove true.
Okay, Sims.
BYE.
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