A few weeks back, we reported on the release of a new book by the Barreiros brothers – Dr Luis Barreiros and Dr Eduardo Barreiros – from Portugal. We have now received some more information directly from the authors, which we append below:
The Spanish Civil War has been the subject of countless publications focusing primarily on the political, military and socio-economic aspects of the warring factions, the Nationalists and the Republicans.
Although it has received little attention from postal historians, Portugal took part in this war on Franco’s side, with around 20,000 legionnaires. A few foreign authors have devoted themselves studying the postal history of our combatants in Spain, also known as the “Viriatos”. The best-known works published in English and Spanish are modest in scope and lack depth. Although most of this rare correspondence from the legionnaires is held in Portugal, and whilst there are some interested collectors, they have never decided to study the postal history of our combatants. Seeking to fill this gap, and after more than twenty years spent gathering a significant collection of letters and postcards, the authors have now taken the initiative to publish this book.
We highlight in the contents the historical introduction, the Portuguese Military Mission in Spain, the portuguese pilots in the nationalist air squadrons, the inventory and study of the characteristics of the mail sent by land, and the rare examples of letters carried by airmail.
This hardback book contains 217 illustrations and 164 pages and is printed on coated paper. The price is EUR 40 plus shipping costs. Orders should be placed by contacting the authors (lebarreiros1953@gmail.com).
Post Script: The authors inform us that the book is selling well and they are fast running out of copies. Note that the authors won the 2024 Crawford medal for their book ‘Portuguese India: Postal History and the First Issues from the ‘natives’ to 1900′.
