Introduction to Exiled at the Beach Book Reviews
Readers who have stumbled on Exiled at the Beach will know that I was an editor of The Internet Review of Books until very recently. At IRB, we had a few guidelines I found a little restrictive. Sometimes we were pitched a book that might be a year old (this exceeded our no more than six months old limit) or a category or genre we normally wouldn’t review such as poetry or cookbooks.
So this got me thinking, why not personally review the books we rejected and then some? The then some led to more thinking. Why not review or, perhaps, introduce books that were published long ago to readers. And that’s how this site came to be.
As I’ve written on Exiled, two of my many interests include the Spanish Civil War, and writer Alvah Bessie, a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion, who fought in Spain, and was one of the Hollywood Ten. For the next few months, I will introduce readers to books on the Spanish Civil War and to acquaint them with Alvah Bessie’s works. Many of you may have already read some Spanish Civil War literature such as Orwell’s Farewell to Catalonia or Hemingway’s For Whom the Bells Toll; however, not many readers are familiar with Bessie’s masterpiece, Men in Battle, his personal account of fighting in Spain with the Lincolns. Men in Battle received a glowing review from Time Magazine, yet sales were disappointing–the review came out the same week Hitler invaded Poland. According to Bessie in his autobiography, Inquisition in Eden, “people had other things to read–the newspapers.”
Along with the reviews, I’ll give you an idea why I chose a specific book, some historical context, if necessary, and, if the book interests you, a link of where you can purchase it online.
This site is a work in progress. My goal is to grow it, include other reviewers (after all, I can only read so much), offer advertising, and even have an occasional giveaway. Please check in often. First book to be reviewed will be Helen Graham’s The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction.
Rebeca Schiller is the editor of Alvah's Books. She reviews literary fiction and non-fiction.