''A Moment of War'' (1991) by the British author Laurie Lee is the last book of his semi-autobiographical trilogy. It covers his months as a combatant in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

from 1937 to 1938. The preceding books of the trilogy are '' Cider With Rosie'' (1959) and ''

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning ''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning'' (1969) is a memoir by Laurie Lee, a British poet. It is a sequel to ''Cider with Rosie'' which detailed his early life in Gloucestershire after the First World War. In this sequel Lee leaves the securit ...

'' (1969). The book describes how, in December 1937, Lee set out for Spain to fight for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

cause. He could not persuade anyone to help him and so eventually crossed the Pyrenees alone in a snowstorm. He then encountered Republican sympathisers who suspected him of being a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

spy and imprisoned him. On the day scheduled for his execution a fortunate encounter led to his being released and joining the International Brigades. The book then recounts Lee's experiences as a Republican soldier in Figueres, Valencia, Tarazona, Madrid, Teruel and Barcelona. He left Spain in February 1938. There has been some doubt about the historical accuracy of the book. Lee himself wrote that his diaries had been stolen and so he relied on memory for what is presented as an eyewitness account.

References

English non-fiction literature 1991 books Spanish Civil War books {{lit-bio-book-stub