I certainly didn't say Orwell was lying, I merely pointed out that Orwell had a particular experience of the war, which was perhaps not consistent with the experience of many others.

Beevor, certainly had a reputation for taking the Soviet line in his earlier work, on Stalingrad and others. Don't forget that British historiography was deeply influenced by Marxism. I said Beevor was a Marxian not a Marxist.

When I was a sailor in the sixties the magic and almost universal phrase was "jig-jig"

I'm not sure how reliable a guide Orwell is to the Spanish Civil War. He joined the P.O.U.M. which was an anarchist organization and which got into a fight with the communists in Barcelona. Anthony Beevor has written a useful history of the Spanish Civil War, although Beevor in turn is a Marxian. It is called the "Battle for Spain".

One of the most impressive novels about the war I have read is the Spanish trilogy that starts with "Los Cipreses creen en Dios" and ends with "Un millón de muertos".