*A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR: Telegraph, Financial Times, i Paper*

'Making Francisco Franco's long life and 36 years of dictatorship enjoyable reading is a daunting challenge ... Giles Tremlett nonetheless succeeds magnificently' PAUL PRESTON

'An excellent biography - compelling, authoritative, even entertaining - of this highly dislikable creature' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE, DAILY TELEGRAPH

From a scrawny military graduate to Europe's youngest general, Francisco Franco was known for his ambition and calculated risk-taking. But his reputation remains a topic of fierce debate. Did he cripple Spain's democracy or save the nation from left-wing tumult?

In this definitive new biography, Giles Tremlett lays bare the story of a tyrant who deliberately wielded terror to maintain an iron grip on power. He traces Franco's ruthless Civil War leadership through to his alignment with Hitler and Mussolini and the Cold War years that followed. Packed with fresh insight and chilling details, El Generalisimo unravels the life and legacy of the enigmatic dictator who shaped twentieth-century Spanish history.

'A magisterial, groundbreaking new portrait ... Sets a gold standard in Spanish Civil War history' ELIZABETH DRAYSON