Why a Booktrail?
1893 – 1940: A fictional love story set against the backdrop of a devastating period of Spanish and world history.
Guernica
What you need to know before your trail
The bombing of Guernica was a devastating experiment in total warfare by the German Luftwaffe in the run-up to World War II on 26 April 1937 For Basques, it was an attack on the soul of their ancient nation; for the world, it was an unprecedented crime against humanity.
In 1935, Miguel Navarro flees the Basque fishing village of Lekeitio to make a new start in Guernica, which is the centre of Basque culture and tradition. Fleeing from the militia and what is happening in the village and the country as a whole, he meets a women, a dancer and together they struggle to maintain a love affair amidst a setting of war and brutality.
Travel Guide
The painting is housed in a single room in the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid and is eerie and fascinating at the same time. A must see if in Madrid.
After a slow start, the book certainly does capture the atmosphere of a remarkable region and its people during the war time. Guernica is a very well researched, epic story about a place and time memorialized by Picasso. It is understandably a sad novel but one full of hope and at times very funny and heart-warming. It is about love and loss and inner strength of a people during war time and widespread destruction. There are sprinkles of the Basque language which linguistic fans will love.
The Basque region is not one that many people learn about at school or indeed in later life but it is a deeply proud and strong region that has played a vital role in Spain’s history. It has its own language and identity and its own share of political upheaval and struggles even in the modern day, but its history is perhaps one of the most fascinating.
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