War and city size: The asymmetric effects of the Spanish Civil War

Populations are affected by shocks of different kinds, and wars, a priori, may be among the most prominent. This article studies the effect of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) shock on the distribution of population, especially on cities. One of the main contributions of this study is that it underlines the importance of distinguishing between winning and losing sides, an aspect which until now has been largely overlooked. While previous research on war shocks has also tended to be concerned with inter-state wars, this paper concentrates on a civil war. We take advantage of a new, long-term, annual data set. Our results show that, overall, the Spanish Civil War did not have a significant effect on city growth. However, we also find a significant and negative effect in the growth of cities that aligned themselves with the losing side. These results are robust to heterogeneity in the effect of the war shock, measured as war severity and duration. Although short lived, the temporary effect on growth results in a permanent effect on the size of cities on the losing side.     

The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation

Journalism, it has been said, is the first rough draft of history. In The Race Beat, Pulitzer prizewinning journalists Gene Robertsand Hank Klibanoff have come as close as anyone could to a final,definitive draft of the history of the role of the press inthe civil rights movement. Their research is exhaustive andtheir writing is compelling, resulting in a book that readslike a hybrid: part scholarly treatise and suspense novel, partadventure tale and Greek tragedy. It sets the scene with a detailed and informative history ofthe Negro press in the U.S., long predating the