Of all the great paintings in the world, the story of Pablo Picasso's Guernica may tell us more about the last century's history than any other. In this new book by Gijs van Hensbergen, the acclaimed biographer of Gaudi, the author explores the life of this key cultural icon from its birth to the present day. He tells the story of the painting's beginnings, amid the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War; describes its use as a weapon in the propaganda battle against Fascism; tells how it traveled overseas to become the nucleus of the Museum of Modern Art's creation in New York; and finally writes movingly of its role as a symbol of reconciliation for Spain after the death of Franco, when it returned to that country as democracy was reestablished.

Guernica is a story of national struggle, political exile, and the power of art as a tool of protest and of healing. Ingeniously chronicling the last century using Picasso's visionary tableau, van Hensbergen offers a new way of understanding our own history.