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Peace in War (Spanish: originally Paz en la Guerra, in recent editions Paz en la guerra, the title sometimes translated into English as Peace of War) is a mid-size novel by Miguel de Unamuno. Having been written since the mid-1880s, it was published in 1897. The narrative is set mostly in Bilbao and surroundings during the Spanish civil war of 1872-1876, with particular focus on the siege of the city in 1874. The protagonists are mostly Bilbao dwellers, some of Carlist and some of Liberal political preferences. The plot revolves around the fate of Ignacio Iturriondo, a man in his early 20s, who volunteered to Carlist troops. The book was generally well received by the press and the critics, but it failed to make a major impact and was not re-published until 1923. Issued in Latin America in the 1910s, in the inter-war period the novel was translated into German and Czech, and afterwards into some other European languages. Author The 1874 siege of Bilbao, which forms the narrative framework of Paz en la Guerra, was witnessed from the inside by Unamuno, who at the time was a 10-year-old boy. When commencing work on the novel, he was in his early 30s; following a university spell in Madrid he lived in Bilbao and worked as a teacher of Latin in the local Instituto. His literary record was null: at about this time he started publishing articles in local papers, and some of them resembled the format of short stories. In 1891 he got married and assumed the chair of Greek at the University of Salamanca, where he moved with his wife; the couple would have first 3 children during the following 5 years. The scale of his press contributions became significant, and he started to make a name for himself in the local Biscay and Salmantine ambience. In 1895, during final period of editing Paz en la Guerra, Unamuno published his first book, En torno al casticismo, a set of sophisticated essays on Castillan self, tradition and history; this volume gained him attention among Spanish intellectuals, though initially it did not make a major impact in terms of popular discourse. Spain of the mid-1890s When the novel was published Spain has been enjoying some 20 years of political stability, the first such period in the 19th century. The regime, usually named "Restoration", was monarchy combined with parliamentarian liberal democracy; two key parties were interchanging at power and fundamental flaws of the system – its elitism, corruption and caciquismo – were not clearly visible yet. For few years the country has already been fighting the war in Cuba against local independentists, but at the time no-one knew that within a year it would develop into the war against the United States and would produce a massive disaster, a cultural shock that would be one of major milestones of Spanish history. Carlism, defeated in the civil war 22 years before, appeared to have been a threat long gone, reduced to a second-rate party which abandoned its insurgent ideas. The Basque nationalism was merely in its nascent phase, with scarce following and reduced to very few institutional outposts. First republican parties started to win seats in the parliament, while the socialist ones failed to do so; the level of social tension was moderate. Writing the novel According to his later claim Unamuno was writing Paz en la Guerra for some 12 years, which points to the mid-1880s as the moment of its inception. It seems that it was written in the late 1880s in Bilbao, and then edited in the early 1890s in Salamanca. Some of his essays published in Biscay newspapers in the late 1880s and early 1890s contained images which later appeared in the novel, mostly related to depictions of Bilbao. The most evident case is a 1887 story Solitaña; it features a fictional character which bears some resemblance to Pedro Iturriondo and contains “themes and preoccupations” developed in Paz en la Guerra. In 1891 the author confessed in a private letter that initially he intended “una novelita corta” which he planned to finish in 3-4 months; later it grew to “novela histórico-político-religiosa-etc-etc” and there was still 1-2 years needed to complete it. Though Unamuno partially relied on his own infantile memories from the times of war, he also extensively consulted archival copies of newspapers issued during the siege, e.g. La Guerra. It seems that his narrative was mostly completed in the early 1890s, and later years were dedicated to editing. The novel was considered ready in early 1896. Publication Unamuno’s key advisor in publishing matters was José María Soltura Urrutia, a wealthy Biscay intellectual who eventually financed the edition. Having finished writing, in March 1896 Unamuno intended to get the book published as soon as possible, but was advised to wait until the summer or perhaps even later; eventually the book appeared on the market in early 1897. Initially he wanted to release it with one of the Bilbao publishing houses, but he was persuaded to rely rather on a Madrid company. The book was printed in December 1896 by the Bilbao firm Imprenta Muller y Zavaleta, but it got officially released in January 1897 by the Madrid publishing house Librería de Fernando Fé. Its print run was moderate 1.503 copies (at the time novels of established authors like Galdós or Pereda had a print run of 3-5.000 copies). During commercial negotiations in late 1896 Fé offered Unamuno the royalty of 2.000 ptas, but eventually the writer earned 1.500 ptas (his annual salary at the university was 3.500 ptas). The book was sold at the price of 4 ptas (above the usual price of 2 ptas) and enjoyed some sort of marketing campaign. Single copies were sent out to various critics and institutions. First reception The book sold out within a year; unlike novels of popular authors, re-issued every some time, it would not be re-published for quarter of a century. In the press the novel was rather well received, both in daily papers and specialized literary magazines; some classified it as “obra literaria de verdadera importancia” and used it as a benchmark for other novels. One reviewer saw it as a tale about two conflicting protagonists: the city and the village. Another focused rather on psychology of the characters and especially on Pachico, singled out as the key personality. One more described it as a “philosophical novel” and warned readers not to expect torrid action, though he complained that protagonists are “demasiado razonadores y filósofos”. Some viewed it as a novelistic analysis of the phenomenon of war and its impact, making references to Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Some had difficulty when trying to categorize the novel, and referred to “novela verdaderement inclasifiable”. Among key figures of literary critique the reception was mixed. Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo reportedly liked the book; Urbano González Serrano did not respond favorably. Also some other reviewers, like Francisco Navarro Ledesma, remained rather critical. Charact.... Discover the Christoph Strosetzki popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Christoph Strosetzki books.