Anarchism, Revolution and Reaction. Catalan Labor and the Crisis of the Spanish State, 1898-1923
International Studies in Social History vol 8;
Oxford/New York, Berghahn Books, 2007; ISBN 978-1-84545-176-9, 418 pp.
The period from 1898 to 1923 was a particularly dramatic one in Spanish history; it culminated in the violent Barcelona 'labor wars' and was only brought to a close with the coup d'état launched by the Barcelona Captain General, Miguel Primo de Rivera, in September 1923.
In his detailed examination of the rise of the Catalan anarchist-syndicalist-led labor movement, the author blends social, cultural and political history in a novel way.
He analyses the working class 'from below' and the policies of the Spanish State towards labor 'from above'. Based on an in-depth usage of primary sources, the authors provides an unrivalled account of Catalan labor and the Catalan anarchist-syndicalist movement and thus makes an important contribution to our understanding of early twentieth-century Spanish history.