Catalan-language publishers were under constant threat during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975). Both the Catalan language and the introduction of foreign ideas were banned by the regime, preoccupied as it was with creating a "one, great and free Spain." Books against Tyranny examines the period through its censorship laws and censors' accounts by means of intertextuality, an approach that aims to shed light on the evolution of Francoism's ideological thought.

The documents examined here includes firsthand witness accounts, correspondence, memoirs, censorship files, newspapers, original interviews, and unpublished material housed in various Spanish archives. As such, the book opens up the field and serves as an informative tool for scholars of Franco's Spain, Catalan social movements, or censorship more generally.

"An excellent introduction to the impact of censorship on the Catalan literary field during Franco's regime."
—Jordi Cornellà-Detrell, author of Literature as a Response to Cultural and Political Repression in Franco's Catalonia
"[Books against Tyranny] fills several important voids about the Franco period, including the vetting of published material by the state and the development of Catalonia's publishing industry in the twentieth century."
—Omar Encarnación, author of Democracy without Justice in Spain: The Politics of Forgetting
"An excellent introduction to the impact of censorship on the Catalan literary field during Franco's regime."
—Jordi Cornellà-Detrell, author of Literature as a Response to Cultural and Political Repression in Franco's Catalonia
"An excellent introduction to the impact of censorship on the Catalan literary field during Franco's regime."
—Jordi Cornellà-Detrell, author of Literature as a Response to Cultural and Political Repression in Franco's Catalonia

Laura Vilardell is an assistant professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Northern Illinois University.