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A review by jjupille
Spanish Testament by Arthur Koestler
slow-paced
3.0
Koestler's Act of Creation and Ghost in the Machine are really important books for me. i have sometimes called him my intellectual hero. But I didn't like Darkness at Noon very much, and this is extraordinarily important future-history reportage, but not very well written. The places where he waxes philosophical about time and death are extremely well-situated (in prison condemned to death by the Spanish fascist rebels). But they're pretty banal, some real clunkers in there.
I don't know Spanish Civil War (nor general history) very well. This was a good easy introduction to the Civil War, and I found some of the historical background and sociological analysis (e.g., that Spain was still more or less feudal across substantial swathes, and the the Church didn't really think the Inquisition was all that bad). I would like to learn more.
The best deliverable for me was analysis of "the method of terror" deployed by the fascists. He elaborates this on pp. 80-83. He has hold of a Francoist document enumerating five points around how to "instil a certain sulatory terror into the population" (p. 81). It explicitly calls for local authorities to get straightened out quickly at pain of their own and their famillies' deaths. "In every case the methods resorted to must be of a clearly spectacular and impressive character", etc. Really chilling stuff.
So Koestler is really good at showing the terrifying violence the Francist rebels were deploying. 50,000 slaughtered, I guess. 5,000 over a few bloody months in Malaga.
I also didn't know the Falangists deployed "Moors" to sow special terror, and it seems in particular were used for sexual violence and other especially terrorizing acts. AK rightly calls out the irony of Torquemadian Catholics deploying Moors on Spanish soil.
The final thing that kep jumping out at me was how clear it was to Koestler that the proceedings in Spain were mere prelude to the next great war. He put pen down in late summer 1937, edited the book in the early fall. Was that the case for any educated European at this time? I have huge holes in my reading in this period.
Anyway, I am going to Spain for the last 4-5 months of 2025 and will read more. This was OK to start.
I don't know Spanish Civil War (nor general history) very well. This was a good easy introduction to the Civil War, and I found some of the historical background and sociological analysis (e.g., that Spain was still more or less feudal across substantial swathes, and the the Church didn't really think the Inquisition was all that bad). I would like to learn more.
The best deliverable for me was analysis of "the method of terror" deployed by the fascists. He elaborates this on pp. 80-83. He has hold of a Francoist document enumerating five points around how to "instil a certain sulatory terror into the population" (p. 81). It explicitly calls for local authorities to get straightened out quickly at pain of their own and their famillies' deaths. "In every case the methods resorted to must be of a clearly spectacular and impressive character", etc. Really chilling stuff.
So Koestler is really good at showing the terrifying violence the Francist rebels were deploying. 50,000 slaughtered, I guess. 5,000 over a few bloody months in Malaga.
I also didn't know the Falangists deployed "Moors" to sow special terror, and it seems in particular were used for sexual violence and other especially terrorizing acts. AK rightly calls out the irony of Torquemadian Catholics deploying Moors on Spanish soil.
The final thing that kep jumping out at me was how clear it was to Koestler that the proceedings in Spain were mere prelude to the next great war. He put pen down in late summer 1937, edited the book in the early fall. Was that the case for any educated European at this time? I have huge holes in my reading in this period.
Anyway, I am going to Spain for the last 4-5 months of 2025 and will read more. This was OK to start.