Guernica, the Crucible of World War II

The cultural and religious capital of northern Spain was reduced to rubble on April 26, 1937. Franco said the people of Guernica destroyed the town themselves. Others - in Spain and throughout the world - protested what they believed to be an unprecedented wartime slaughter of innocent civilians. Guernica proves both views wrong, at last presenting the truth about a tragedy too long misunderstood. In a remarkable achievement, two internationally respected investigative reporters reached original sources - people on both sides of the Spanish Civil War - to discover the actual events of April 26, 1937. Thirty-two surviving eyewitnesses to the tragedy were interviewed. The reporters also traveled to Germany to interview the men of the German Air Force sent by Hitler to support Franco's bid for power. The result: a detailed, moment-by-moment reconstruction of the dramatic three-day period that culminated in the bombing of norther Spain's holy city. Guernica is an intense human document, told through the experiences of people who were there. --from inside jacket flap.