Hobsbawm, Hamilton, Orwell
Holding to the ever-hilarious "similar to buses" principle, there was not one but three very interesting articles in yesterday's Guardian Review.
In this piece, Eric Hobsbawm looks at how the Spanish Civil War galvanised the intellectual and artistic world for the Republican cause, and how the left's defeat did not, ultimately, extinguish the ideals they aroused. He downplays the shameful role of Stalin and the Spanish Communist Party in peresecuting POUM and the anarchists, but its a good read nonetheless.
In this piece, David Lodge looks at Patrick Hamilton's novel Slaves of Solitude as well as having a brief overview of his life and career. I adore Hamilton, though haven't read Slaves of Solitude yet. But I will.
And finally, in this piece Kathryn Hughes looks at the memoirs of George Orwell's young "girlfriend" Jacintha Buddicom, complete with a rather unpleasant tale of a "botched seduction."
