The Caudillo: discover, understand

The book consists of two parts:

-a first biographical section which unsurprisingly goes from birth to death of the Caudillo

-a second part offers the reader a better understanding of the character that was Franco.

The biography is very interesting. But I want to make some criticisms. I found that at times the author does not clearly presented the historical and political context of things. For example, he speaks of Cortes without giving a definition or Primo de Rivera's dictatorship is not detailed enough for my taste.
In addition, the author has long presented the Spanish Civil War ... problem, I found this rather complicated part to understand! The problem is certainly related to the lack of presentation of political parties etc.
But after 1939, everything is clear and interesting. It follows the takeover of Franco, as he managed to hold on to power during and after the Second World War and finally the 30 years of the Franco regime that followed the end of the war.

The second part is original and useful. Many facets of the characters mentioned above and analyzed: his childhood, the chance that followed all his life, the cult of personality, charisma etc.

The main quality of this book is the objectivity of the author. At the end of the book, I could not tell which side Mr. Bennassar stood as he put things in their places on both sides.

Despite my few problems understanding the political context, I recommend this book because it is very informative and very fair regarding the character of Franco. I would read in some time the biography made by Michel Del Castillo to be able to have something to compare.