The Irish and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39: Crusades in Conflict by Robert A. Stradling (review)

140bookrevipjcs commenting on the events of May, 1871 (Piiris Commune and aftermath), he labeled the Communards "monstres" (p. 379) who killed Archbishop Darboy. He opposed the militarism of the government and wrote that France would be saved by the Church and Catholic education rather than by military action. Catholicism is the essential element in Delmer's life, and he is conscious of his vocation as a Catholic journalist. He opposed Belgian separation of Church and State as being detrimental to Catholic interests. The Italian question convinced him of the necessity of a second daily Catholic newspaper in Brussels which would more ardently support the Pope. The description and narration of Delmer's securing financing and collaborators show him to be a determined and persevering man of principle. His seeking the active approbation of the Belgian bishops and papal nuncio reveals the close connection between the press and the Belgian hierarchy. In this volume as in the previous three, there are extensive indices (about ninety pages). These research aids include brief identifications and references to all four volumes. Since there is no introduction to this volume, the introductory biography in Volume I is indispensable for providing a context for this volume . Delmer's granddaughter's editing is once again meticulous; she inserts relevant letters mentioned in the notebooks to provide a fuller picture of Delmer's ideas and activities. The four volumes published over the past decade provide a useful source for understanding the life and views of a Catholic journalist in the second half of the nineteenth century. It will be of special interest to students of nineteenthcentury Catholicism and to those of the press because of its important but often difficult-to-find information (e.g., subscriptions, salaries, costs). M. Patricia Dougherty, O.P. Dominican College ofSan Rafael The Irish and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39: Crusades in Conflict. By Robert A. Stradling. (Manchester: Manchester University Press. Distributed by St. Martin's Press, Scholarly and Reference Division, NewYork. 1999. Pp. xvi, 288. $79.95.) This is, simply speaking, a marvelous book, a fascinating account of a littlenoted part of the Spanish Civil war and of Irish domestic history, written with the flashes of wit commensurate with the people the author is writing about. It is a narration and analysis of the two groups of Irishmen who went to Spain to fight for the contending factions in the Spanish Civil War. One group, the XV Bandera, led by the fascist Blueshirt leader Eoin O'Duffy, fought for the Nationalists ; most of the 670 men of the Bandera, enraged by the anticlerical violence in Spain, enlisted to fight for the Faith. The other group—about 200 men—led book reviews141 by the practicing Catholic, Frank Ryan,joined the International Brigades to fight for the Republic. Robert Stradling, of Cardiff University ofWales, has based his research solidly on interviews with survivors and the archives in Spain, England, and Ireland. He places the two groups within the context of both Spanish and Irish politics. The divisiveness of Irish politics surfaced among the volunteers of both crusades . O'Duffy's leadership was contested by others in the Irish fascist movement . De Valera was not anxious to get involved in the Spanish war; so his government remained neutral and tried to block the volunteers, so that both factions had to use subterfuge to get passports to go to Spain. The roles of the Irish clergy and traditional Irish Catholicism were important elements among both groups. Priests whipped up support for O'Duffy; some promised a martyr's reward for those killed in the war, and others suggested volunteering to fight for the Faith as a form of penance. Some appealed to the aid Spaniards had given the Irish in the sixteenth century, and now called for a repayment of that debt. But not all the clergy supported the effort: a Jesuit periodical "commented acidly . . . that if there is a fight going on,'the fighting race' should join in," and some said the volunteers should fight in Belfast rather than Madrid. But,"with an armory of rosaries" they went off to fight; one Irish wit remarked that "O'Duffy was taking 2,000 [sic] Irishmen...