A young Canadian marches over the Pyrenees and enters into history by joining the International Brigades--volunteers from around the world fighting against fascism in Spain. This edition of Ted Allan's novel This Time a Better Earth is the first in a new series on Canadian Spanish Civil War literature. It reintroduces readers to the electrifying milieu of the Spanish Civil War and Madrid, which for a short time in the 19305 became the epicentre of a global struggle between democracy and fascism. This Time a Better Earth, first published in 193g, tells the story of Canadian Bob Curtis from the time of his arrival in Spain, painting a portrait of the idealism and trials of the volunteers. Allan's novel achieves the distinction of being both a work of considerable literary and historical significance, as well as a real page-turner.

TED ALLAN (1916-1995) was born in Man Herman in Montréal. A dedicated Young Communist, he was a correspondent for the Toronto Daily Worker and The Clarion, and it was then that he adopted the name Ted Allan to infiltrate a fascist organization and write an exposé. He served in the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, of which This Time a Better Earth is a fictionalized account. His later novel Love Is a Long Shot (1984), which won the Stephen Leacock Award, is a humorous and autobiographical portrait of a teenage socialist. Ted Allan's best-known book is The Scalpel, the Sword: The Story of-Doctor Norman Bethune (1952), written in collaboration with Sydney Gordon and later adapted for the screen.

BART VAUTOUR is Assistant Professor of English at Dalhousie University. A scholar of Canadian literature, he is currently completing a monograph project, The Deed Becomes the Word: Canadian Media and Writing on the Spanish Civil War.