Soldados de Salamina / Soldiers of Salamis

Nueva edición de Soldados de Salamina, novela imprescindible del siglo XXI, revisada a fondo por el autor y rematada por un esclarecedor epílogo escrito por él mismo.

> Sesenta años más tarde, un novelista fracasado descubre por azar este enterrado episodio bélico y, fascinado por él, emprende una investigación para aclarar sus circunstancias y desentrañar su significado. Quién era de verdad Rafael Sánchez Mazas? Cuál fue su verdadera peripecia de guerra? Quién fue el soldado que le dejó escapar? Y por qué lo hizo? Qué secreto escondía su mirada?
Novela revolucionaria y deslumbrante, Soldados de Salamina cosechó un extraordinario éxito de crítica y público y catapultó la carrera de uno de los novelistas más prestigiosos de la actual narrativa española. Desde entonces no ha dejado de leerse en todo el mundo con creciente admiración.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

This new edition of Soldiers of Salamis, a fundamental novel of the 21st century, has been thoroughly revised by the author and finished off by an enlightening epilogue written by the author himself.

An award-winning, wholly original and absorbing work of fiction by a modern master, at whose heart lies an investigation into the nature of historical truth.

In the final moments of the Spanish Civil War, fifty prominent Nationalist prisoners face a firing squad. Among them is Rafael Sánchez Mazas-writer, fascist, and founder of the Spanish Falange. As the machine guns begin to fire, Sánchez Mazas escapes into the forest. When a militiaman discovers his hiding place, Sánchez Mazas faces death for the second time that day. But the unknown soldier simply turns and walks away. Sánchez Mazas becomes a national hero and ultimately a minister in Franco's first government. The soldier disappears into history.

Sixty years later, as Cercas sifts through the evidence to establish what really happened, he realizes that the true hero may not be the one who was celebrated, but, rather, the soldier who chose not to shoot. Who was he? Why did he spare Sánchez Mazas? Every answer Cercas uncovers leads to another question in this powerful and elegantly constructed novel about truth, memory, and war.