In the final moments of the Spanish Civil War, a writer and founding member of Franco's Fascist Party is about to be shot, and yet miraculously escapes into the forest. When his hiding place is discovered, he faces death for the second time that day-but is spared, this time by a lone soldier. The POW becomes a national hero and a member of Franco's first government, while the soldier is forgotten. Sixty years later, Cercas's novel peels back the layers of truth and propaganda in order to discover who the real hero was. Elegantly constructed and told with self-deprecating, melancholy humor, Soldiers of Salamis is a wholly original work of literature by a modern master. Javier Cercas is a lecturer in Spanish Literature at the University of Gerona. Soldiers of Salamis has been published in fifteen languages. Anne McLean has translated Latin American and Spanish writers such as Carmen Martin Gaite, Orlando González Esteva, Julio Cortázar, Paula Varsavsky, Ignacio Padilla and Luis Sepúlveda. "A haunting and provocative book about history, memory, and the elusive nature of heroism...funny, moving, and surprising."-Washington Post "Cercas unravels a breathtaking 'true story' that encompasses lessons of war and writing, historic truth and heroism."-Time Out "He has succeeded, with one perfectly crafted book, in single-handedly redeeming the epic genre."-Alberto Manguel, author of A History of Reading Winner of The Independent Prize for Foreign Fiction "Gripping and also a tear-jerker in the best sense of the word...Soldiers of Salamis strikes a chord in any country or individual with ghosts to face."-Los Angeles Times