A Penguin special,

This is the book which marked Frederick Forsyth's transition from journalist to author. A record of one of the most brutal conflicts the Third World has ever suffered, it has become a classic of modern war reporting. But it is more than that. It voices one man's outrage not only at the extremes of human violence, but also at the duplicity and self-interest of the Western Governments - most notably, the British, who tacitly accepted or actively aided that violence.

Searchlight on Spain, unlike many other books on the Civil War, is not just an account of the author's experiences during a short visit to Spain in April 1937 as part of a British parliamentary delegation. Although the trip to Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia undoubtedly brought her into contact with the reality of the Republic and the Civil War, the Duchess of Atholl researched extensively for just over a year, writing a rigorous historical work on the situation in Spain.