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At every home game of FC Barcelona, at 17 minutes and 14 seconds of play, the 100,000-capacity Camp Nou stadium is filled by the roar of "IN-DE-PEN-DÈN-CI-A!" Time stops for a second. History lives in the present... Catalonia's national consciousness has deep roots. There are countries twice the size with histories half as interesting. A People's History of Catalonia tells that history, from below, in all its richness and complexity. The region's struggle for independence has, for centuries, been violently resisted, the Catalan language suppressed and its leaders jailed. The fight of an oppressed nation for its sovereignty has often dovetailed with that of a militant working class for social justice. From the peasant revolts of the 15th century and the siege of Barcelona in 1714, to defeat in the Spanish Civil War, and the slow re-emergence of the workers' movement and anti-Francoist resistance in the years that followed, Michael Eaude tells a compelling story whose ending has yet to be written.On October 1, 2017, the Spanish police assault on Catalans voting in a peaceful referendum shot Catalonia's struggle for independence onto the world's front pages. Today, those two million-plus voters have neither forgiven nor forgotten: the struggle continues. Catalonia's national consciousness has deep roots. A People's History of Catalonia tells this small country's history, from below, in all its richness and complexity. Catalonia's struggles for freedom have, for centuries, been violently resisted; and its language and rights, suppressed. Since the nineteenth century, the fight for national sovereignty has often intertwined with working-class mobilisation for social justice. Barcelona became known as the Rose of Fire. In 1936 Catalonia saw one of history's most profound workers' revolutions. From the peasant revolts of the 15th century and the siege of Barcelona in 1714, through the explosive workers' movement led by anarchists, the defeat in the Spanish Civil War, to the anti-Franco resistance in the grim years that followed, the author tells a compelling story whose ending has yet to be written.
List of contents
Introduction
Part I: From Empire to Province
1. Rise and Fall of the Crown of Aragon
2. The Three Great Class Struggles of the Fifteenth Century
3. Revolution and Republic: 1641
4. Damn Them When You've Done: 1714
5. The Inanimate Corpse
Part II: The Working Class Moves Centre-Stage
6. Rose of Fire
7. Free Men and Women
8. The Mass Strike: Europe Burning
9. The Giant Awakes
10. Cradle of the Spanish Revolution: 1936
11. Defeat of the Dictatorship
12. The Difficult Spirit: From Autonomy to Independence
Endwords
Timeline
Glossary
Bibliography
Notes
Index
About the author
Michael Eaude has lived between Barcelona and the hills of Valencia for thirty years. He has written widely on Spanish and Catalan literature and politics. His several books include Catalonia, a Cultural History and Sails and Winds on the history, politics and culture of Valencia.
