The Forging of a Rebel

The novel describes Barea's early ambitions of becoming an engineer and his frustration with an unequal social system that forces him to terminate his education and work in various jobs such as courier, shop attendant and bank employee.

The prose records with evocative detail the nature of urban life in Madrid, as well as in the rural areas where the author's extended family lived.

[2] La Ruta narrates Barea's military service and his participation in the Rif War in the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco, using it as a backdrop to explain the rise of fascism.

The book focuses on the events preceding and following the disaster of Annual; detailing the incompetence and corruption of the Spanish military leadership, and the lack of training and preparation of the conscripted troops who have to endure the harsh conditions of colonial warfare.

[5] His early narrations were short stories that would later be recompiled in tomes such as "Valor y miedo" (Courage and Fear) and "El centro de la Pista" (The Center of the Path).

[6] These stories were well received among his acquaintances, especially his lover and future second wife Ilsa Pollak, whose extensive knowledge of foreign languages, being herself Austrian and speaking fluent English and French in addition to her native German, was pivotal in the translation and publication of his work.

It was an instant success among critics, particularly Gabriel García Márquez and George Orwell who called The Forge: "an excellent book … Señor Barea is one of the most valuable of the literary acquisitions that England has made as a result of Fascist persecution”.