Sir Paul PrestonCBE (born 21 July 1946) is an English historian andHispanist, biographer ofFrancisco Franco, and specialist in Spanish history, in particular theSpanish Civil War, which he has studied for more than 50 years. He is the winner of multiple awards for his books on the Spanish Civil War.[1]
Preston was born in 1946 inLiverpool. Preston said in an interview that he has sympathy for theSecond Spanish Republic: "I came from a fairly left-wing family. You could not really be from working-class Liverpool and not be left-wing. Emotionally, in my feeling for the Republic I think there is an element of indignation about the Republic's defeat, solidarity with the losing side. Maybe that's why I supportEverton, although Everton wasn't the losing side in my day."[2]
Preston studied for his undergraduate degree at Oriel College, Oxford. He then gained an MA in European Studies at the University of Reading. He moved back to Oriel College to gain his DPhil.[3]
From 1991 to 2020 Preston taught at theLondon School of Economics, where he was Príncipe de Asturias Professor of Contemporary Spanish Studies and the founding director of the Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies.
He is a frequent visitor to Spain, where his work appears in Spanish andCatalan. He speaks both languages.[4]
He has a wife, Gabriella, to whom he dedicatedThe Spanish Holocaust: Inquisition and Extermination in Twentieth-Century Spain.[5]
Regarding criticism from right-wing media outlets over his depictions of Franco and other figures, Preston stated in a 2021 interview: "I try to be honest, even if the right-wing press paints me as an amateur and a liar."[6]
Preston has produced abiography of Franco (Basic Books, 1994). He has also published a biography ofKing Juan Carlos I (2003). Recent books includeWe Saw Spain Die, on the subject of foreign correspondents who reported on the Spanish Civil War andPerfidious Albion: Britain and the Spanish Civil War, a collection of essays exploring "the hypocrisy of British foreign policy towards the Spanish Republic, in contrast to the selfless contribution of medical personnel from across the globe, including many doctors and nurses from Britain, Ireland and Commonwealth countries, and assessing the influence of prominent ‘writer-historians’ includingGeorge Orwell andHerbert Southworth."[7]
In 2012 he published the English edition of theSpanish Holocaust.[8] This book represents a challenge to thepact of forgetting,[9] examining the many deaths and atrocities associated with the Spanish Civil War, and following the Francoist repression into the early 1950s.[10]
The book was criticised by the historianStanley G. Payne; while Payne did praise Preston for his depth and breadth of research into atrocities during and after the war, he criticised Preston for bias in his downplaying of Republican atrocities. Payne argues that Franco's policy was to simply eliminate the leaders and main activists of the Republicans while letting most of the rank and file go free. On the other hand, Payne said that Preston's estimate forpost-war executions committed by the Francoist regime was probably too low.[11]
At the same time the book received praise among other academics and journalists, withGiles Tremlett writing in the Guardian: "Preston provides facts, figures and harrowing descriptions in the first full and proper attempt to explain the horror. He does not shy away from strong words – 'holocaust' is deliberately chosen to describe the extent of cold-blooded killing [...] because its resonances with systematic murder should be evoked in the Spanish case, as they are in those of Germany or Russia".“[12]
Robert Low ofThe Jewish Chronicle reviewed the book positively, saying that it "shows how fake news is certainly not an invention of the 21st century, and that its consequences can be far-reaching and frequently lethal."[16]
^García-Guerrero, Isaac (2015). "Preston, Paul The Spanish Holocaust: Inquisition and Extermination in Twentieth-Century Spain, London: Harper Press, 2012, 700 pp. £30.00 (hbk)".Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism.15 (2).doi:10.1111/sena.12145.
Media related toPaul Preston at Wikimedia Commons
SpanishWikiquote has quotations related to:Paul Preston