Homage to Catalonia was a special read, as not only was I reading another work but Orwell that I hadn’t yet got round to, but I read it when in Barcelona, and reading a book in the city it is set in has a special feeling. In his memoir Orwell recounts his time fighting for the POUM against the fascist Franco regime during the Spanish civil war, he going over to fight due to his strong anti-fascist beliefs when the likes of Hitler and Mussolini had gained incontestable power. He exposes the harsh reality of the war, not being full of combat but militia stood in trenches in Huesca feeling useless, and in the same case hiding behind barricades for days on the Barcelona Ramblas firing rouge shots every few hours. It also exposed the reality of humans in war, and the bittersweet truth that one day you are firing at a man from across the street, and the next joining him for a coffee. Having to follow political orders is often the harsh reality of war.