Probing the Enigma of Franco

Book excerpt: This book has been written for the student and general reader to study the Franco regime within an accessible framework. It explores the various views of Franco provided by biographers and historians, and acknowledges that political bias and various moral stances are forever evident. The background of any character is critical and Part One is a brief summary of Spanish history during this period. Part Two examines Franco the person, and Part Three looks at his highly contentious polices during World War Two. The final section explores Franco and postwar Spain as a pariah state gaining a small degree of respectability because of Franco’s attempted manipulation of the Vatican, and his relationship with America during the Cold War. Franco was a long-surviving dictator from the 1930s and highly repressive to the bitter end, despised by many and feared by his countrymen, yet respected by others.