Live Souls: Citizens and Volunteers of Civil War Spain. Alternes, Serge & Wainman, Alec. Published by Ronsdale Press, 2015. Signed, dated and inscribed by Serge Alternes on title page. Limited edition of 500 copies. Glossy card covers with French Flaps. 303pp. with index and photos. In fine condition with the very lightest of shelf wear.
Contains 210 of the photos that Alec Wainman took in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, along with his personal story of his time as a volunteer member of the British Medical Unit. Until the present only small numbers of these photos have appeared in a few histories, where they have been valued for their insight into the troubled period. After much research by Serge Alternês, the entire corpus of the photos was discovered – in excellent condition. Alternês has imparted valuable detail with his introduction, captions to the photos, a timeline, as well as an overview of the international implications of Spain’s civil war from a contemporary perspective. Alec’s photographs and story bring revolutionary history to life, offering a complement to what George Orwell described in “Homage to Catalonia” and what the volunteer medical teams achieved with Drs. Norman Bethune and Reginald Saxton. Alec’s humanitarian ideal as an apolitical Quaker persuaded him to volunteer in August 1936 at the outbreak of the war to defend the ideals of liberty.
