Roberto Villa Garcia – författare

Alejandro Lerroux (18641949) was one of the most polemical figures of early twentieth century Spanish politics. As leader of the Radical Republican Party and six-time prime minister between 1933 and 1935, his admirers saw him as a patriot determined to create a Republic for all citizens, while his critics denounced him as an opportunistic demagogue willing to sacrifice the Republic to its enemies. Like his French republican contemporary Georges Clemenceau, Lerrouxs long political journey took him from the fiery radical leftism of his youth to centrist consensual politics. Thus while Lerroux was the most significant advocate of a revolutionary break with Spains monarchical and authoritarian past before 1931, after the proclamation of the Second Republic he wished to build an inclusive and tolerant democracy. This book is the first scholarly biography in any language of this titan of modern Spanish politics. Nigel Townsons The Crisis of Democracy in Spain (2000) is the only book in English to discuss Lerrouxs career in any detail, but his study is restricted to the Second Republic. Utilising neglected primary material, Villa Garcia argues that Lerroux embodies the transition from the elitist liberal politics of the nineteenth century to the modern mass politics of the twentieth. Like the Second Republic itself, Lerrouxs political career ended in failure. The work is a timely reminder to students of modern Spain that the demise of Republican democracy was not inevitable. Nevertheless, after the abrupt end to Lerrouxs effort to sustain a broadly based moderate and democratic government, Spain would never again achieve stable and constitutional rule until 1977. The political defeat of Lerroux was a major turning point in the countrys history, a fateful step in the failure of democracy and the coming of civil war.

Alejandro Lerroux (18641949) was one of the most polemical figures of early twentieth century Spanish politics. As leader of the Radical Republican Party and six-time prime minister between 1933 and 1935, his admirers saw him as a patriot determined to create a Republic for all citizens, while his critics denounced him as an opportunistic demagogue willing to sacrifice the Republic to its enemies. Like his French republican contemporary Georges Clemenceau, Lerrouxs long political journey took him from the fiery radical leftism of his youth to centrist consensual politics. Thus while Lerroux was the most significant advocate of a revolutionary break with Spains monarchical and authoritarian past before 1931, after the proclamation of the Second Republic he wished to build an inclusive and tolerant democracy. This book is the first scholarly biography in any language of this titan of modern Spanish politics. Nigel Townsons The Crisis of Democracy in Spain (2000) is the only book in English to discuss Lerrouxs career in any detail, but his study is restricted to the Second Republic. Utilising neglected primary material, Villa Garcia argues that Lerroux embodies the transition from the elitist liberal politics of the nineteenth century to the modern mass politics of the twentieth. Like the Second Republic itself, Lerrouxs political career ended in failure. The work is a timely reminder to students of modern Spain that the demise of Republican democracy was not inevitable. Nevertheless, after the abrupt end to Lerrouxs effort to sustain a broadly based moderate and democratic government, Spain would never again achieve stable and constitutional rule until 1977. The political defeat of Lerroux was a major turning point in the countrys history, a fateful step in the failure of democracy and the coming of civil war.

Tras el final de la Primera Guerra Mundial (1914 -1918) se produce en el mundo un proceso de aceleracion de cambios politicos provocados por las consecuencias traumaticas del conflicto belico que se acaba de cerrar, y que lejos de lograr la paz y la cooperacion entre los pueblos y estados enfrentados en los campos de batalla , supuso un periodo de convulsiones sociales y economicas que llevarian a un nuevo conflicto militar, tambien de caracter mundial , con resultados devastadores para la humanidad. Esta obra en la que participan mas de 20 especialistas universitarios en historia y politica y cuyos textos en diferentes escenarios geopoliticos van acompanados de casi 50 imagenes de la epoca, nos sirve para comprender por que las crisis y conflictos locales vividos por el mundo de entreguerras no fueron episodios aislados entre si, sino el preludio argumental de la gran tragedia global que estaba a punto de estallar al finalizar la decada de 1930.