Praise

A readable, well-rounded account with good illustrations, and I found myself engaged in the story from beginning to end.

– Canada’s History

This is an intimate, intelligent, and finely wrought portrayal of one Canadian’s role in the Spanish Civil War and the great struggle against fascism in the twentieth century.

– Michael Petrou, author of Renegades: Canadians in the Spanish Civil War and adjunct professor of history, Carleton University

What Hans Ibing tells us of his dramatic and unique experience in Spain is an important addition to the recorded history of the Canadian volunteers who went to fight fascism. Just as compelling is his story of immigration, and personal odyssey in the aftermath of the war – a colourful thread in the fabric of this country’s social history over five decades.

– David Yorke, editor of Mac-Pap, Ronald Liversedge’s memoir of the Spanish Civil War

A Chance to Fight Hitler deftly explores one man’s engagement with some of the great struggles of the twentieth century, notably the unemployment crisis of the 1930s in the Canadian West, the popularization of left-wing movements amid the Great Depression, the fight to defeat fascism in Spain, and conflicts on Canada’s home front during the Second World War. Through the combined insights of Ibing and Goutor we see vividly the exciting possibilities, as well as the limitations, of the Communist movement.

– Ian Radforth, Department of History, University of Toronto

Goutor’s book is a good read. He’s married to Hans Ibing’s granddaughter and had ready access to his memories. The civil war in Spain was a key event in Ibing’s life and a seminal chapter in the evolution of trade union and socialist political action in Canada and across the industrial world. It is particularly relevant now that labour, environmental and anti-war activists need to work together to stop the further spread of neo-fascist politicians.

– Alan Pickersgill

David Goutor’s biography adds to our growing knowledge of the role of Canadians in the important and still very much contested history of the Spanish Civil War. The often altruistic, “premature anti-fascist” volunteers found themselves entrenched in the opening salvos of the fierce battle soon to engulf the world.

– Gregory S Kealey, professor emeritus, Department of History, University of New Brunswick