Summary of Soldiers of SalamisÂ
“Soldiers of Salamis” is a fictionalised historical account of how Rafael Sánchez Mazas, a Spanish writer and far-right nationalist leader, escaped a Republican firing squad at the end of the Spanish Civil War. The novel centres on the quest to identify the Republican soldier who discovered Sánchez Mazas when he was on the run and chose to spare his life instead of killing him.
Reasons to read Soldiers of Salamis
“Soldiers of Salamis” is Javier Cercas’ attempt to keep the memories of the Spanish Civil War alive. A central question posed by this novel is: what makes a true hero? The novel received many literary awards in Spain, including the Premio Salambó de Narrativa, and was adapted into a Spanish film in 2003 (“Soldados de Salamina”). Anne McLean’s English translation of the novel won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2004. Javier Cercas also won the Premio Nacional de Narrativa in 2010 for his novel “The Anatomy of a Moment” and the European Book Prize in 2016 for his novel “The Impostor”. Notably, Rafael Sánchez Mazas, the anti-hero of this novel, was the father of the acclaimed Spanish writer Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, author of the novel “The River” (“El Jarama”).
Setting: Cornellá del Terri, Girona (Spain)
Original title: Soldados de Salamina
Year of publication: 2001
Nr of pages: 256
