Overview

Paradise in Hell studies the role played by alcohol, morphine, cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines in the Spanish Civil War. The book analyses the moral discourses that were produced around these substances, the policies implemented by civil and military authorities, the consumption by combatants and civilians, and the role they played in the war effort. From these four perspectives, Paradises in Hell explores the everyday experiences of soldiers and civilians, the physical, psychological and emotional effects of war, the rituals of camaraderie, and the impact that the absence of these substances had on the morale of soldiers and civilians. The book also gives special attention to the role these substances played in the development of respectable, tough and cocky masculinities, in the construction of a sense of national community and everyday nationalism, and in the dehumanisation of the enemy in a way that legitimised violence.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jorge Marco
Publisher:   University of Wales Press
Imprint:   University of Wales Press
Dimensions:   Width: 13.80cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 21.60cm
ISBN:  

9781837721115

ISBN 10:   1837721114
Pages:   280
Publication Date:   15 March 2024
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction Part One: Bullets and Alcohol 1. Controversies, paradoxes and compromises 2. The bar front: respectable masculinity on the home front 3. ‘Drinks of death’: respectable masculinity at the front 4. ‘Raging drunk’: Republican dehumanisation of the enemy 5. ‘Who are the real drunkards?’: Insurgent dehumanisation of the enemy 6. ‘Drunk on blood and alcohol’: ethylic monsters and violence 7. ‘Drinking reveals the good warrior’: everyday nationalism, tough and cocky masculinity 8. Alcohol on the front line 9. The ‘malignant’ consequences of alcohol: discipline, psychosis and alcoholism Part Two: Artificial Paradise 10. Drugs and modern war: a global context 11. The unstoppable path towards ‘degeneration’ 12. The toxic enemy: anti-drug discourses during the Spanish Civil War 13. ‘Morfo’ and ‘coco’ in the Spanish Civil War 14. The pharmaceutical industry and the war effort 15. The black market and the war on drugs 16. From kif smoke to the amphetamine myth 17. The psychoactive legacies of war Conclusions References

Reviews

""In this crisply written and intellectually sparky book, Jorge Marco 'offers' his readers alcohol and drugs as a memorably tangible way into understanding the big processes of change that occurred in twentieth-century Spain. His richly documented and formidably wide-ranging analysis shows a country being sculpted from the outside by changing trade flows and expanding regimes of legislative control - while, inside Spain, in the face of rising social fears and moral panics, new configurations of state power emerged to speak the language of eugenics.""-- ""Emerita Professor Helen Graham, Royal Holloway, University of London"" ""Jorge Marco is the most original and innovative young historian currently working on the Spanish Civil War. His highly readable account of the use of alcohol and drugs by front-line troops on both sides in the conflict provides fascinating insights into the horrors of that and many other wars.""-- ""Professor Sir Paul Preston, London School of Economics""

"""In this crisply written and intellectually sparky book, Jorge Marco 'offers' his readers alcohol and drugs as a memorably tangible way into understanding the big processes of change that occurred in twentieth-century Spain. His richly documented and formidably wide-ranging analysis shows a country being sculpted from the outside by changing trade flows and expanding regimes of legislative control - while, inside Spain, in the face of rising social fears and moral panics, new configurations of state power emerged to speak the language of eugenics.""-- ""Emerita Professor Helen Graham, Royal Holloway, University of London"" ""Jorge Marco is the most original and innovative young historian currently working on the Spanish Civil War. His highly readable account of the use of alcohol and drugs by front-line troops on both sides in the conflict provides fascinating insights into the horrors of that and many other wars.""-- ""Professor Sir Paul Preston, London School of Economics"""

Author Information

Jorge Marco is a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics, Languages, and International Studies at the University of Bath.

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