Is it possible to write an honest history of a nation's most painful era?
In short: Sir Paul Preston, widely considered the world's leading authority on 20th-century Spain, has spent five decades dissecting the Spanish Civil War. His work challenges the nation's pact of forgetting, sparking intense debate over how historians should document atrocities and whether objectivity is even possible when confronting systematic state-sponsored violence.
Born in Liverpool in 1946, Paul Preston’s academic career is defined by his rigorous, often controversial, examination of the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist regime. After completing his DPhil at Oxford in 1977, he held prestigious positions, including the Príncipe de Asturias Professor of Contemporary Spanish Studies at the London School of Economics from 1991 to 2020. His scholarship, which includes definitive biographies of Francisco Franco and King Juan Carlos I, has earned him a knighthood and numerous honorary doctorates.
Preston’s 2012 book, The Spanish Holocaust, serves as a focal point for his methodology and the criticism he faces. By using the term 'holocaust' to describe the systematic killing during and after the war, he aimed to evoke the gravity of the atrocities. While supporters praise his exhaustive research and commitment to uncovering the truth, critics like historian Stanley G. Payne have argued that his work exhibits bias by downplaying Republican-led violence. Preston maintains that his goal is simple honesty, despite frequent attacks from right-wing media outlets that label him an amateur or a liar.
In his more recent work, such as the 2023 book Architects of Terror, Preston explores the role of conspiracy theories and antisemitism in the rise of Francoism. By profiling figures like Emilio Mola and Gonzalo Queipo de Llano, he demonstrates that the manipulation of information—what we now call 'fake news'—is a historical tool with lethal consequences. Preston rejects the label of theorist, preferring the clarity of biography to explain the complex, often harrowing, political landscape of 20th-century Spain.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Paul Preston
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