Julián Casanova

Julián Casanova Ruiz (born 1956) is a Spanish historian of modern and contemporary Spain. He is professor of contemporary history at the University of Zaragoza and a visiting professor at the Central European University. His work has focused particularly on the Second Spanish Republic, the Spanish Civil War, anarchism, political violence, and historical memory in twentieth-century Spain.

Casanova was born in Valdealgorfa, in the province of Teruel, in 1956.^[1] He received his doctorate from the University of Zaragoza in 1984 with a dissertation titled Anarquismo y revolución en la sociedad rural aragonesa durante la Guerra Civil (julio 1936-mayo 1938).^[2]

Casanova is professor of contemporary history at the University of Zaragoza and has also taught as a visiting professor at the Central European University.^[3][4] He has held visiting appointments at Queen Mary College, London, Harvard University, the University of Notre Dame, the New School, and FLACSO.^[3] During the 2018–19 academic year, he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.^[5] In 2022–23, he was Distinguished Fellow of the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia at the University of Michigan.^[3]

In 2007, Zaragoza named Casanova a Hijo Adoptivo ("Adopted Son") of the city.^[6] In 2021, the Government of Aragón awarded him the Premio de las Letras Aragonesas 2020.^[7]

Casanova has been a regular contributor to the opinion pages of the Spanish newspaper El País.^[8] In 2008, he was appointed to an expert panel assisting judge Baltasar Garzón in the investigation into victims of the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist dictatorship.^[9]

He was historical adviser and presenter of the 2006 TVE documentary series La guerra filmada, produced with the Filmoteca Española.^[10] He also served as a historical adviser to Alejandro Amenábar's 2019 film While at War.^[3]

• Casanova, Julián (1991). La historia social y los historiadores (in Spanish). Crítica.
• Casanova, Julián (1997). De la calle al frente. El anarcosindicalismo en España (1931–1939) (in Spanish). Crítica.
• Casanova, Julián (2001). La iglesia de Franco (in Spanish). Temas de Hoy.
• Casanova, Julián (2005). Anarchism, the Republic and Civil War in Spain: 1931–1939. Routledge. ISBN 9780415320955.
• Casanova, Julián (2010). The Spanish Republic and Civil War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521493888.
• Casanova, Julián (2011). Europa contra Europa, 1914–1945 (in Spanish). Crítica.
• Casanova, Julián (2013). España partida en dos (in Spanish). Crítica.
• Casanova, Julián (2013). A Short History of the Spanish Civil War. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781780767857.
• Casanova, Julián; Gil Andrés, Carlos (2014). Twentieth-Century Spain: A History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107602670.
• Casanova, Julián (2017). La venganza de los siervos. Rusia 1917 (in Spanish). Crítica.
• Casanova, Julián (2020). Una violencia indómita. El siglo XX europeo (in Spanish). Crítica.
• Casanova, Julián (2021). A Short History of the Spanish Civil War (Revised ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350152588.
• Casanova, Julián (2022). España partida en dos. Breve historia de la guerra civil española (in Spanish). Crítica.
• Casanova, Julián (2025). Franco (in Spanish). Crítica.

• Julian Casanova at Central European University
• Articles by Julián Casanova at El País (in Spanish)