Tam Watters and Jennie Renton, contributors to Our Fathers Fought Franco will be joined by Robbie Gordon, writer of 549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War to discuss Scots involvement in the Spanish Civil War, with a particular focus on the Prestonpans area.
James Maley, George Watters, Donald Renton and Archibald Williams were members of Machine Gun Company No. 2 of the XV International Brigade. This is the first book to focus on a small group of men who, from different starting-points, ended up on the same battleground at Jarama, and then in the same prisons after capture by Franco’s forces.
Our Fathers Fought Franco is a collective biography that promises to add significantly to the understanding of the motives of those who ‘went because their open eyes could see no other way’.
Tam Watters is the son of George Watters who was part of Machine Gun Company No.2 of the XV International Brigade. Tam retells his father’s story in Our Fathers Fought Franco through a prison notebook, newspaper reports, stills cut from newsreels, interviews, anecdotes, and memories with a foreword by Daniel Gray.
Jennie Renton is the daughter of Donald Renton and is a secondhand bookseller and publishing freelancer in her home city of Edinburgh. As founder-editor of Scottish Book Collector she produced over 80 issues of the magazine; she also edited Folio for the National Library of Scotland.
Robbie Gordon is a theatre-maker born in Prestonpans specialising in making work with and for communities. He trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, graduating in 2016 with the Drama in Education Award. He is the co-founder of the critically acclaimed “fiercely curious” (The Herald) Wonder Fools, Creative Engagement Director at the Gaiety Theatre and Creative Development Producer for the Traverse Theatre. He is the co-writer of the hit play 549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War.