Esmond Romilly (1918-1941) was Winston Churchill’s nephew and even rumoured to be his illegitimate son. Already notorious as a teenage runaway from Wellington College, Romilly was among the first British volunteers to join the International Brigade in Spain, cycling across France to fight on the side of the Spanish Republic against Franco’s insurrection. He saw intensive front line action in defence of Madrid, culminating in the battle of Boadilla del Monte in December 1936. Written on his honeymoon in France after eloping with Jessica Mitford in early 1937, this is his personal account of those events, in which many of his fellow comrades lost their lives.

As well as a highly readable and moving memoir, it has served as a primary historical source for many leading scholars writing about the Spanish Civil War, including Paul Preston, Hugh Thomas and Anthony Beevor. This annotated edition also includes an introduction by George Nichols and an appendix with three poems written in Spain by John Cornford, who died on the battlefield in Spain at Lopera, near Cordoba.

Romilly later signed up with the Royal Canadian Air Force and was killed when his plane was shot down over the Atlantic in 1941.