Hi! I am an undergraduate student in History and for my final year, I was allowed to take on the task of a undergraduate thesis. This means completing a much larger piece of work than I've ever had the chance to write and as such I am both excited and a little overwhelmed. My thesis proposal is discussing the historiographical impact of George Orwell's memoir 'Homage to Catalonia' on the memory of the war, specifically localized to the 'May Days Event' which took place in Barcelona, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. The event laid bare a great deal of the political strife and disunity that plagued the Spanish Republic, ultimately leading to its collapse in 1939.

A large problem that I have stumbled upon is locating specific sources. There is plenty of writing on the Spanish Civil War itself and I have done enough general research on, say, the political tensions of the Spanish Revolution and its followers (mostly radical leftists) and the government forces who just wanted to deal with Franco. I have also been looking at George Orwell and his writings on Spain and I have so far come to the conclusion that he is narrowminded when it comes to this conflict (in Homage he says he was expecting modern, dangerous, warfare like on the Western Front in WWI where death was a constant factor, his military experience in Spain, however, is much more limited and he complains about it a lot). In fact he takes a very paternalistic view of the Spaniards and Catalans fighting for their ideals and their homes. He discusses at length how the war in Spain is rather small scale and not very aggressive and overall very very boring! In discussing Barcelona during the urban fighting of May 1937, he is mostly ambivalent because he was not near the center of the fighting and as such complains about the tedious boredom of being holed up in the hotel headquarters of his radical political paramilitary unit the POUM, firing on vague targets across the street. I want to challenge this interpretation with comparing and contrasting local accounts of the Barcelona May Days and see the differences. So! That brings me to my main question! Is there any one who specializes on the the Spanish Civil War and can they help me with sources which are more specific to Catalonia's experience of the war and Barcelona during those May Days, particular from a local perspective and especially since more modern research has been developed.

I have found a few small scale accounts of the events mentioned. In a Catalan man's diary from the time, for instance, who was present during the May Days. However there are two problems with this. 1) is that he is a Nationalist, Catholic, land holding, Spaniard who supports Franco but chooses to fight for the Republic as he is afraid of being seen as a traitor and would be shot which makes him incredibly bias against any of the myriad of political movements in Barcelona at this time. 2) is that his account of his time in Barcelona is rather short and limited to maybe 3 or 4 pages which isn't very extensive. What I would like to find is any account written by actual participants of the street fighting who are Republican/Anarchist/etc. This would bring a much needed different prospective to the events and which I can contrast with Orwell's account. I would also accept any other foreign volunteers memoirs of the same events if that is available. As well if there is any contemporary articles/books specifically on this event, those would be a great help!

As I think I have made it abundantly clear I cannot seem to locate very many primary sources (in English) which can help me and that is basically what I am looking for but secondary research would help greatly!

I may be posting in the wrong subreddit and I would just like to make it clear that I am essentially looking for sources but if this does not fit the rules of the subreddit, please guide me to the right one. Many thanks in advance,

A Young Historian :)

Tldr: Looking for sources on Barcelona and Catalan experiences in the May Days fighting during the Spanish Civil War.