Picasso's War: The Destruction of Guernica, and the Masterpiece That Changed the World

From the bestselling author of Beethoven's Hair comes a stirring narrative account of the town that inspired one of the world's most celebrated and controversial paintings, and of the artist whose passion and vision altered the course of modern history and art. In 1937, the Basque town of Guernica was bombed by Hitler's Luftwaffe. This act of terror—the first large-scale attack against civilians in modern warfare—outraged the world, and one man in particular. Pablo Picasso responded to the devastation in his homeland by beginning work on Guernica, what many consider the greatest artwork of the 20th century. Picasso's War sheds light on the conflict that was an ominous prelude to WWII and delivers an unforgettable portrait of a genius whose visionary statement about horror and terrible wounds of war still resonates today.