Soldados de Salamina / Soldiers of Salamis

Nueva edici n de Soldados de Salamina, novela imprescindible del siglo XXI, revisada a fondo por el autor y rematada por un esclarecedor ep logo escrito por l mismo. A finales de enero de 1939, apenas dos meses antes del final de la guerra civil, un grupo de prisioneros franquistas es fusilado cerca la frontera francesa por soldados republicanos que huyen hacia el exilio. Entre esos prisioneros se halla Rafael S nchez Mazas, fundador e ide logo de la Falange, poeta y futuro ministro de Franco, quien consigue milagrosamente escapar y ocultarse en el bosque mientras los republicanos lo persiguen; hasta que un soldado lo descubre, lo enca ona y, mir ndolo a los ojos, le perdona la vida. Sesenta a os m s tarde, un novelista fracasado descubre por azar este enterrado episodio b lico y, fascinado por l, emprende una investigaci n para aclarar sus circunstancias y desentra ar su significado. Qui n era de verdad Rafael S nchez Mazas? Cu l fue su verdadera peripecia de guerra? Qui n fue el soldado que le dej escapar? Y por qu lo hizo? Qu secreto escond a su mirada? Novela revolucionaria y deslumbrante, Soldados de Salamina cosech un extraordinario xito de cr tica y p blico y catapult la carrera de uno de los novelistas m s prestigiosos de la actual narrativa espa ola. Desde entonces no ha dejado de leerse en todo el mundo con creciente admiraci n. 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 S nchez Mazas-writer, fascist, and founder of the Spanish Falange. As the machine guns begin to fire, S nchez Mazas escapes into the forest. When a militiaman discovers his hiding place, S nchez Mazas faces death for the second time that day. But the unknown soldier simply turns and walks away. S nchez 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 S nchez Mazas? Every answer Cercas uncovers leads to another question in this powerful and elegantly constructed novel about truth, memory, and war.