La España de Alvah Bessie. De la Guerra Civil a la Transición

Abstract

La España de Alvah Bessie. De la Guerra Civil a la Transición demonstrates that Alvah Bessie’s Spanish corpus is central as his literary work. The fact that Bessie participated in the Spanish Civil War as a volunteer in the International Brigades makes his writing especially insightful for those interested in the events of twentieth century Spain. While there is much information that can be found about Bessie from different sources, he has never been at the center of a research project of this scale. Furthermore his writings on Spain have not previously been identified in one place. This dissertation catalogues his most relevant works on Spain published and unpublished such as books, articles, screenplays, letters and short stories. This information has been collected from many different sources including obscure books out of print, private collections and his archives at the Wisconsin Historical Society. This dissertation puts Alvah Bessie at the center of the international volunteers and writers who witnessed and participated in the Spanish Civil War, dictatorship and transition to democracy. His presentation and perception of these events are still relevant today for scholars interested in contemporary Spain.