Book excerpt: The Spanish Civil War (1939-1939) was one of the bloodiest internecine conflicts of the modern era, resulting in a repressive and brutal military dictatorship which lasted for almost forty years. Starting with an account of the background to the wat, Sheelagh Ellwood traces the history of the Second Republic (1931-1936), culminating in the electoral victory of the Popular Front in 1936. The author then charts analyses the dramatic chain of events of the Civil War: the army uprising in Morocco in July 1936, the Nationalist advances in southern northwestern Spain, the protracted resistance of Catalonia and Madrid, and the final victory of Franco′s forces in the spring of 1939.