Overshadowed in the history books by his contemporaries Hitler and Mussolini, General Francisco Franco ruled Spain for four decades after seizing power in the country’s savage civil war.

Appointing himself ‘Caudillo de España’ – Supreme Leader of Spain – Franco implemented brutally repressive policies. Although ostensibly neutral during the Second World War, his sympathies lay with the fascists. Post-war, the allies considered him an enemy of democracy, and Spain became isolated – yet somehow he managed to remain in office.

This five-part series The Truth About Franco: Spain’s Forgotten Dictatorship (Monday 31 August to Thursday 3 September at 8.40pm) sheds new light on Franco’s years in power, from his emergence onto the world stage in 1939 to the state of Spain on his death in 1975, and examines the legacy of a dictator.