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No Other Way

{{Short description|Short Biographies}}

{{Infobox book

| authors = Chris Farman, Valery Rose, Liz Woolley

| isbn = 978 1 910448 05 2

| pub_date = 2015

| name = No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War 1936-39

| media_type = Paperback book

| subjects = Spanish Civil War

| genres = History, Biography

| pages = 124

| location = United Kingdom

| language = English

| publisher = International Brigade Memorial Trust

| image = File:No_Other_Way,_Oxfordshire_and_the_Spanish_Civil_War_1936-39.jpeg

}}

No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War 1936-39 is a collection of short biographies detailing the lives of people from Oxfordshire, England, who fought against fascism during the Spanish Civil War. This book was the first ever attempt by historians to identify all the known volunteers with links to Oxfordshire who fought in the war, and was created through a collaboration between local Oxford historians and the International Brigade Memorial Trust (IBMT). The title "No Other Way" is a reference to a quote by Cecil Day-Lewis.{{Cite web |title=Review of 'No Other Way' |url=https://international-brigades.org.uk/news-and-blog/content-review-no-other-way/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=International Brigade Memorial Trust |language=en-US}}

The forward contains an introduction to the Spanish Civil War written by Oxford University professor Tom Buchanan.{{Cite web |last=Little |first=Reg |date=15 January 2015 |title=Monumental battle ensues |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/11727952.monumental-battle-ensues/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=Oxford Mail |language=en}}

Creation and memorial

The creation and sale of the book was used by the IBMT to raise funds for the first Spanish Civil War memorial in Oxfordshire.{{Cite web |title=Spanish Civil War Memorial Unveiled In Oxford |url=https://www.keymilitary.com/article/spanish-civil-war-memorial-unveiled-oxford |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=www.keymilitary.com |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Astreinidou |first=Eva |date=22 June 2017 |title=Remembering those who fought in Spain |pages=12 |work=Oxfordshire Guardian |url=https://issuu.com/taylor-newspapers/docs/22_june_2017_oxfordshire_guardian_c |access-date=17 February 2023}} This campaign was a success partially thanks to the No Other Way book sales.{{Cite web |title=Spanish Civil War Memorial, Oxford |url=http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/war/spanish_civil_war/index.html |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=www.oxfordhistory.org.uk}} The memorial was raised in 2017 with the erection of the Oxford Spanish Civil War memorial in South Park, Oxford.{{Cite news |title=Banburyshire journalist, historian and Labour Party stalwart Chris Farman has died of Covid-19 on his 83rd birthday |language=en-GB |work=Banbury Guardian |url=https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/health/coronavirus/banburyshire-journalist-historian-and-labour-party-stalwart-chris-farman-has-died-of-covid-19-on-his-83rd-birthday-2875500 |access-date=2023-02-17}}

File:Oxford Spanish War Memorial front.jpg, created partially using funds raised from the sale of No Other Way]]

Reception

No Other Way received generally positive reviews.

Graham Stevenson, a British trade union leader and author on the history of communist activism in Britain, gave a positive review.

Professor of history at the Lancaster University Ben Edwards gave a positive review, although he lamented the fact that more references to the existing literature could have improved the work.{{Cite web |title=April 2016 Reviews {{!}} {{!}} Local History News {{!}} British Association For Local History |url=https://www.balh.org.uk/publication-review-april-2016-reviews |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=www.balh.org.uk}}

Peter Hill of the Oxford Left Review wrote a review detailing the ways in which the book's contents can be linked to modern Oxford.{{Cite journal |last=Hill |first=Peter |date=June 2015 |title=Damn These Out of Date Sports |url=https://oxfordleftreview.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/olr15_webfinal.pdf |journal=Oxford Left Review |issue=15 |pages=59–61}}

Known volunteers

No Other Way identified 31 individual people with links to Oxfordshire, England, who fought against fascism during the Spanish Civil War.{{Div col|colwidth=18em}}

{{div col end}}

Missing biographies

Despite attempts by the writers to include every known volunteer, historians have since discovered two more volunteers who were previously undiscovered. Their names are:

  • Charlie Hutchison - The only known Black-British man to have fought in the Spanish Civil War.
  • Liesel Carritt - A German-Jewish refugee who had fled to Oxford with her family to escape the Nazis.

In recognition of this mistake, a correction was included on the website of the local Oxford branch of the International Brigades Memorial Trust.{{Cite web |title=Brief biographies of each of the known volunteers with significant connections to Oxfordshire |url=https://www.oxibmcomm.org.uk/Volunteer%20Biographies.pdf |access-date=17 February 2023 |website=.oxibmcomm.org.uk}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Category:History books about the Spanish Civil War

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Category:Biographical books

Category:2015 non-fiction books