PositiveThe Tampa Bay TimesOne of Hochschild's most vivid portraits is of Bob Merriman, an economics professor from California who studied the Soviets but left Russia when Spain broke into civil war. His calm, steady leadership of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion serves as one of the book's primary narratives ... Hochschild, though sympathetic to the leftists, presents their flaws without excuse. Many of the Americans who went to the fight were either naive or willfully ignorant about the failings of the Spanish leftists and of their main benefactor, Russia.
Stacy Schiff
MixedTampa Bay TimesOverall, though, The Witches is so detailed and comprehensive that it can be dull and hard to follow in stretches. The cast of characters at the front of the book contains a daunting 90-plus names. If you're looking for an exhaustive, blow-by-blow account of the trials, The Witches is excellent. But it may be too much information for those with a more casual interest.
