Never surrender: The siege of the Alcázar of Toledo, July-September 1936

The Alcázar, a huge cube-shaped medieval fortress, looms over Toledo, a conservative city 40 miles south of Madrid. Ringed by the River Tagus, Toledo is famous for its many churches, its production of bladed weapons, and as the one-time home of the Spanish Renaissance artist El Greco. But, to this day, it is the Alcázar, on a height overlooking the town, that dominates, resembling the White Tower, the oldest part of the Tower of London, with its sheer walls and four rectangular turrets – one at each corner. Ninety years ago, in 1936, this vast building was used  as Spain’s principal academy for training army officers – the Spanish equivalent of Sandhurst or West Point. Tol