Anti-Fascists: Jim McNeill and His Mates in the Spanish Civil War
by Michael Samaras/ Foreward by Rodney Cavalier
For my father, a sensitive young man from a largely conservative-voting family, the Spanish Civil War was not about ideology. It was never a question of ‘left’ versus ‘right’ or even ‘socialism’ verses ‘capitalism.’ Rather, it represented opposition to the crude aphorism that ‘Might makes Right.’ Dad was too young to join the International Brigades, but the defeat of the Spanish Republic on 1 April 1939 changed his view of the world, forever. Simply, like many, my father was determined that this must never happen again. Not then, not now. Not ever. Human freedom based on small ‘l’ liberal democratic institutions and values and traditions must prevail against all forms of totalitarianism. And, at all costs. In this, he was fond of quoting Churchill.
“Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time .… .”
This then is the context in which I review Micheal Samaras’ important new book. As others have commented, Samaras’ historical writing is exemplary. it is meticulously researched. It is written with clarity, commitment, and passion. However, Anti-Fascists, Jim McNeill and his mates in the Spanish Civil War is more than that. Much more. It brings to life past thoughts and experiences with the deliberate intention of better understanding the human mind. Samaras puts flesh onto the bones of history. His writing apprehends the mental actions behind the historical events. It brings to life Jim McNeill and his mates, not merely as footnotes in a grand historical narrative but reimagines them as real people who lived and died for something bigger than themselves: to say ‘no’ to fascism and to stand up to dictators.
(Michael Samaras is a graduate of UOW)
Photograph: Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington New Zealand.
