Homage to Catalonia 1943. The closing phrase of the poem, "No bomb that ever burst shatters the crystal spirit", was later taken by George Woodcock for the title of his Governor General's Award-winning critical study of Orwell and his work, "The Crystal Spirit" (1966). Homage to Catalonia Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell's personal account of his experiences and observations fighting for the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War. The war was one of the shaping events on his political outlook and a significant part of what led him to write, in 1946, "Every line of serious work that I have written
The Spanish Civil War and the British Left carefully researched examination" with "much to commend it." Julius Ruiz, in "The Historical Journal", described "The Spanish Civil War and the British Left" as "a significant addition to the historiography" and praised Mates's discussion of the impact of the popular front strategy on the CPGB, but took issue with his belief that industrial action could have proved a better strategy or succeeded in changing government policy. The Spanish Civil War and the British Left The Spanish Civil War and the British Left: Political Activism and the Popular Front is a 2007 book by Lewis H. Mates. Mates uses archival research