He [Franco] had always admired the English, he said, especially their system of education with its emphasis on self-discipline, breeding the spirit of adventure that had made so small a country the ruler of so great an empire.” Peter Kemp is an Englishman who served as a junior officer in the Spanish Civil War -- on the Nationalist side. Mine Were of Trouble : A Nationalist Account of the Spanish Civil War (1957) by Peter Kemp is an account of the Spanish Civil War from the Nationalist side. It’s a very interesting accompaniment to George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia.

Mine Were of Trouble (Peter Kemp) April 12, 2020 Mine Were of Trouble (Peter Kemp) April 12, 2020

Franco goes on to warn of the communist threat, especially to British education, spreading “subversive influences among our youth”. Franco had that exactly right. It is depressing to see the depths to which these “subversive influences” have degraded Britishers. And not only them, of course, but everywhere leftist subversion is allowed free reign, even Franco’s Spain, which defeated the left, but the left, like cancer or toe nail fungus or sin, returned, and now Spain is as left infected as any European, formerly Christian, society. The war never ends. Finally retiring from the army due to tuberculosis, he became a writer and insurance salesman. As a reporter, he went to Central and South America, Rhodesia, the Belgian Congo, Hungary, etc. He wrote three books besides Mine Were of Trouble, all memoirs of his life and war experiences. Charles, I just finished this book and can say that your review here is an excellent summary as to the events narrated and also the flavor of the narration, while the flavor of your writing is, as always, a thing to savor. It’s a short book, lean, but meaty, and well spiced. Every sentence is interesting and leads to the next interesting sentence. (Unlike that Kissinger book you reviewed.) The character of Kemp, the writer, is a study in certain British qualities; understated, competent, adventurous, courageous, and high-minded. The sort of character Franco describes when Kemp meets him:I didn’t think of them as being fascist sympathizers, just small town folk. (I never asked, come to think of it.) In my mind, they were just nice people who were super excited about Catholicism and had some (in my opinion) rather old-fashioned ideas. The Red Terror in Spain Like I said earlier, Kemp was on a gap year, before settling down to a boring job in London. Here’s a quote about his experience in one of the many battles… Kemp, taking the place of an Alferéz, describes the perks of everyday anecdotes compellingly enough for the non-war literature enthusiast. He brings to light a side of this war which is still considered, to this day, "unfashionable", although he makes it very clear why he found imperative to join the Nationalist side. Yet he also kept an impartial view on the abuses he saw. If they became prison guards, they’d be no better than the state apparatus they hated… so, they ended up as executioners instead. In other words, those were tough times for a lot of people.

Mine Were of Trouble: A Nationalist Account of the Spanish Mine Were of Trouble: A Nationalist Account of the Spanish

Kemp fought with Italian and German forces. While, apparently, there is a myth that Russia only provided "humanitarian aid," Kemp notes: This perspective alone is worth the price of the book. The books I've read have all been written from the perspective of the Leftist Republicans where the bestiality and depravity of the Naitonalists has been an assumed fact. Aside from the partisan bias, these books shortchange the Nationalist side. In "The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction," for example, the author doesn't bother to explain what the "Carlists" were and where they came from. Kemp was around 22 and had recently graduated from university. He had been involved with the Conservative Union at university. Kemp's explanation for joining the Nationalists was (a) he thought he could use the seasoning of military action and (b) there was no way that he would fight for the left. The book does not reveal any interest in fascism or fascist politics on the part of Kemp. Similarly, Kemp is clearly opposed to Communism, but we don't hear vituperative condemnations of Communism from him. Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuthHe is, in other words, a private university kid taking a gap year – one that just happens to include some very bloody trench warfare. In his book, Orwell says that churches in Catalonia were burnt “as a matter of course” but laments the headline “Reds Crucify Nuns” in the Daily Mail as being bad journalism. Kemp mentions at least one village allegedly crucifying their priest, but the historical (non-memoir) studies I’ve read don’t mention crucifixions. This church was destroyed just after the Civil War began. Now the bottom part’s a library. Unlike most burned churches, it wasn’t rebuilt after the war. Lavapiés, Madrid. Taking that into account, and knowing what I know, I don’t think the civil war was anybody’s fault in particular. The Spanish situation was bad, and one way or another there was going to be violence. There was plenty of violence happening before the war broke out, in fact. This is arguably one of the most interesting, thrilling, and charming books I have ever read, and most certainly is a contender for my favourite of the year. The author, Peter Kemp, has a superb skill for structure, detail, and storytelling that makes it extremely difficult to put this book down. It gives you just enough detail to help you understand the situations he was in without being too heavy-handed and boring. At some moments, 'Mine Were of Trouble' reads almost like an adventure book; not because the events are so unbelievable, but because of the great lengths the author went to describe the acts of heroism and horror he saw in real life.