Barcelona is now one of the most glamorous cities in Europe, renowned for its modernista art and new post Olympic-games architecture. For much of the twentieth century, however, it was better known as the 'Catalan Manchester', the 'city of the bombs' and 'rose of fire'. This reflected both its importance as the leading industrial centre of the Mediterranean and its revolutionary traditions, particularly the importance of anarchism within its labour movement. Interest has often focused on the barricades and revolts of 'Picasso's Barcelona' at the turn of the century and the great social revolution unleashed by the Civil War and chronicled by George Orwell. This book explores this 'red' or 'red and black' heritage, and how it has been transformed as the century has progressed. As one of Europe's great industrial and revolutionary centres Barcelona has been in need of a detailed social and cultural history, yet there is actually a paucity of detailed research. This book redresses the balance.
Focusing on the entire twentieth century, it allows for the emergence of long-term trends, and deals with both classic and newer themes of labour history, such as: * Transformations within the labour process * The development of and splits within the organised labour movement * Gender and labour * The relationship between 'popular' and working-class protest, and labour and nationalism This novel and authoritative work will interest not only those working on Spain, but all scholars and students of comparative history.