The story of a preventable tragedy that cost many thousands of lives and ruined tens of thousands more at the end of the Spanish Civil War. Focussing on three individuals - Dr. Juan Negrin, the victim of what might be called a conspiracy of fools; Julian Besteiro, the naif; and the cynical, arrogant, selfish Segismundo Casado - Paul Preston, the leading historian on Spain, tells the shocking story of a humanitarian disaster and the worst possible end to the tragedy that was the war in Spain.