No Other Way

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.[1]

No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War 1936-39
AuthorsChris Farman, Valery Rose, Liz Woolley
LanguageEnglish
SubjectsSpanish Civil War
GenresHistory, Biography
PublisherInternational Brigade Memorial Trust
Publication date
2015
Media typePaperback book
Pages124
ISBN978 1 910448 05 2

The forward contains an introduction to the Spanish Civil War written by Oxford University professor Tom Buchanan.[2]

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.[3][4] This campaign was a success partially thanks to the No Other Way book sales.[5] The memorial was raised in 2017 with the erection of the Oxford Spanish Civil War memorial in South Park, Oxford.[6]

The Oxford Spanish Civil War memorial, 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.[1]

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.[7]

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.[8]

Known volunteers

No Other Way identified 31 individual people with links to Oxfordshire, England, who fought against fascism during the Spanish Civil War.

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.[9]

References
  1. "Review of 'No Other Way'". International Brigade Memorial Trust. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  2. Little, Reg (15 January 2015). "Monumental battle ensues". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  3. "Spanish Civil War Memorial Unveiled In Oxford". www.keymilitary.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  4. Astreinidou, Eva (22 June 2017). "Remembering those who fought in Spain". Oxfordshire Guardian. p. 12. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  5. "Spanish Civil War Memorial, Oxford". www.oxfordhistory.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  6. "Banburyshire journalist, historian and Labour Party stalwart Chris Farman has died of Covid-19 on his 83rd birthday". Banbury Guardian. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  7. "April 2016 Reviews | | Local History News | British Association For Local History". www.balh.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  8. Hill, Peter (June 2015). "Damn These Out of Date Sports" (PDF). Oxford Left Review (15): 59–61.
  9. "Brief biographies of each of the known volunteers with significant connections to Oxfordshire" (PDF). .oxibmcomm.org.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
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