SEATTLE/ Conservative Monitor -- Hitler's armies blitz through Poland, devastate France, and push the forces of Great Britain off the European continent at Dunkirk. Axis forces gather on the English Channel preparing to invade England, while an armored division positions itself just over the Pyrenees from the Spanish border, poised to march through Spain and capture Gibraltar. The conquest of this gateway to the Mediterranean would close off the efficient supply rout that supplies England's armies in Africa. Without Gibraltar, Operation Torch will be impossible. German victory in Spain could be a cornerstone of Germany's "Thousand Year Reich!"

"Hitler Stopped by Franco", by Jane and Burt Boyar tells the dramatic diplomatic story of how Franco, through subtle political maneuver and sheer will managed to prevent the German's from storming through his territory and taking Gibraltar from the Allies. The book is meticulously researched, the authors interviewed many of the people who surrounded Franco during the crisis, including his close aid and confidant Serrano Suner. Primary documents and secondary sources were reviewed extensively.

The book is written in the form of a novel which gives the story a sense of immediacy. Every scene is written with attention to detail and often with the very words found in documented evidence. The story culminates with Hitler's visit with Franco at Hendaye, a French town on the border with Spain. Franco begins the conference infuriating the Fuhrer by arriving late. And when Hitler vigorously presses on Franco to let his armies march through Spain, Franco adroitly foils Hitler's intentions by explaining to him the immediate impossibility of such an act. He promises Spanish acquiescence, but always in the future, never today. Later Hitler remarks that he would rather have teeth pulled than go through another interview with Franco.

Soon Hitler becomes involved in the Vortex of Operation Barbarosa, the German invasion of Russia. His forces are, finally, inexorably, drawn from the Spanish border by allied action.

Yet while those troops sat on the border, the threat of a German invasion of Spain was very real. Some historians downplay Franco's role in preventing German Hegemony of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. Nevertheless, at the time, even Winston Churchill considered the roll played by Spain in defending Gibraltar to be quite crucial.

The Memoirs of Sir Samuel Hoare, the English ambassador to Spain throughout the crisis, also bear out the importance of events in Spain. Franco has long been the bugaboo of left-leaning historians because of his victory over the Communists during the Spanish Civil War. As such, he has also not been popular in the press of the west. Yet reading this book, Hoare's Memoirs and any fair evaluation of the civil war, we find Franco to be as just and moderate as he could be under the circumstances. This book goes a long way to rehabilitating the only fascist dictator to survive World War II. It also stresses the role that Franco played in saving the lives of many Jews that were persecuted in France.

The format makes the narrative history easy reading, but for some it will seem less authoritative for that. There is an unfortunate passage in the beginning of the book that attempts to describe what the world would have been like had Hitler actually succeeded in taking Gibraltar. Such suppositions, though they attempt to underline the importance of events of this period, go perhaps too far. By depicting events that did not happen, it takes away from described events that actually did occur. The same information could have been conveyed in a more factual, if theoretical introduction, or even as exposition in dialogue later in the book.

All around, the book is a good read, especially for those interested in World War II, Spanish History, and the struggle between good and evil. "Hitler Stopped By Franco", is quite entertaining with occasional flashes of humor and considerable drama; all of which are accentuated by the knowledge that much of the material is factual. The scenes that include the German Spy Master, Canaris, are quite fascinating. For most readers, this book will spur further interest in Franco, The Spanish Civil War, and the characters who played out the drama recorded here.

Highly recommended reading.