Picasso's War: The Destruction of Guernica and Picasso's Masterpiece

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Summary: A Gripping Account Of Guernica - The Bombing & The Mural
Review: On April 26, 1937, 100 aircraft of the German Luftwaffe's Legion Condor conducted a three hour bombing attack on the city of Guernica, a small Basque town, then held by the Loyalist Republican Army. The Germans were pressured into conducting the attack by Francisco Franco, the Spanish rebel leader. Guernica was approximately 10 miles behind the front lines and was crowded with retreating soldiers and refugees. The day was the normal market day for the town and surrounding area. Local citizens crowded the marketplace, doing their weekly shopping.

Two-thirds of the of the explosives dropped by the German bombers were 500 and 250 kilogram high explosive bombs and 20 pound anti-personnel bombs; one-third were 2 pound incendiary bombs. Approximately 1,654 people may have been killed and another 889 wounded in the attack. Reports indicate as much as 70 percent of the town was destroyed, with most of the rest heavily damaged. Fires ignited during the attack are reported to have burned for three days. Guernica fell to General Francisco Franco's advancing army two days later.

From his home in Paris, Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist and master painter, translated the shock, horror, sorrow and outrage he shared with his fellow countrymen and most of the world's people, into a gigantic black and white mural he titled Guernica.

Russell Martin tells the complete story of Guernica, starting with the events that lead to the creation of the painting and following Guernica as it moved from museum to museum, becoming ever more the important symbol it has become today - and one of the 20th century's greatest masterpieces. Martin examines Spain under Franco's fascist regime, the storied private life of Picasso, the messages of protest within the painting, and the controversy that surrounded Guernica.

This painting symbolizes all that is horrible and evil in war, and the resulting suffering that occurs in wars everywhere. "Picasso's War" has been named a Book Sense 76 selection of the US Association of Independent Booksellers. It is extremely well written and fascinating - educational, critical and very personal. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
JANA