Franco

Stanley George Payne

Stanley G. Payne is an American academic and historian, specialized in the history of modern Spain and European fascist movements at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He retired from full-time teaching in 2004 and is currently Professor Emeritus at its Department of History. His works on the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist period received various estimates: while by the 1980s he had earned the reputation of "America's most prolific historian of Spain", in the 21st century his later works became known for their "revisionist" approach, and received criticism from other historians as overly benevolent towards Falangism and for allegedly spreading Francoist narratives. However, other historians have praised Payne's work in the 21st century. In 2018, Julius Ruiz praised Payne's 2017 work Alcala Zamora and the Failure of the Spanish Republic.