Moment of War: A Memoir

A memoir of the Spanish Civil War with ';the plainness of Orwell but the metaphorical soaring of a poem . . . An extraordinary book' (The New York Times Book Review).In December 1937 I crossed the Pyrenees from Francetwo days on foot through the snow.

I don't know why I chose December; it was just one of a number of idiocies I committed at the time.

Such was Laurie Lee's entry into the Spanish Civil War.Six months afterthe Nationalist uprising forced him to leave the country he had grown to love, he returned to offer his life for the Republican cause.

It seemed as simple as knocking on a farmhouse door in the middle of the night and declaring himself ready to fight.

It would not be the last time he was almost executed for being a spy.

In that bitter winter in a divided Spain, Lee's youthfulidealismcame face to face with the reality of war.

The International Brigade he sought to join was not a gallant fighting force, but a collection of misfits without proper leadership or purpose.

Boredom and bad food and false alarms were as much a part of the experience of war as actual battle. And when the decisive moment finally camethe momentof him ortheenemyit left Lee feeling the very opposite of heroic.

The final volume in Laurie Lee's acclaimed autobiographical trilogypreceded byCider with RosieandAs I Walked Out One Midsummer Morningis a clear-eyed and vital snapshot of a young man, and a proud nation, at a historic crossroads.