The Spanish Civil War is distinctive, even among other civil wars, for its barbarism, and in particular the personal nature of the cruelties inflicted.

Unlike the American Civil War, it was only accidentally defined by geography. Mostly, it was cultural and economic, pitting peasants against landowners, Catholics against secularists, traditionalists against radicals, neighbors against neighbors.

The testimony of a nationalist officer, Tomas Garicano Goñi, in a 1983 British television documentary on the conflict haunts me: “I was not a member of any political party, but we felt there was no way out,” he said.

He did not believe the nation could have peace. “And there’s something else, perhaps too embarrassing to recall, but one has to admit: At that time, we couldn’t stand each other. Di

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