Javier Cercas

English Pen Award (2011) - Mondello International Literature Prize Città di Palermo (Italy, 2011) -  Jean Morer Prize (France, 2010)- Spanish National Literature Prize (2010) -

In February 1981, Spain was still emerging from Franco's shadow, holding a democratic vote for the new prime minister. On the day of the vote in Parliament, while the session was being filmed by TV cameras, a band of right-wing soldiers burst in with automatic weapons, ordering everyone to get down. Only three men defied the order. For thirty-five minutes, as the cameras rolled, they stayed in their seats.

Critically adored novelist Javier Cercas originally set out to write a novel about this pivotal moment, but determined it had already gained an air of myth, or, through the annual broadcast of video clips, had at least acquired the fictional taint of reality television. Cercas turned to nonfiction, and his vivid descriptions of the archival footage frame a narrative that traverses the line between history and art, creating a daring new account of this watershed moment in modern Spanish history.

“Cercas provides a creatively imagined account of an event that should be instructive to students of evolutionary democracy…. those who stick with it will become immersed in its near-hypnotic power.”Kirkus Reviews 

"Cercas is major novelist who has written a fascinating account of a key event in Spain's recent history" The Independent

'A brilliant reconfiguring of a key event in contemporary European history. Audacious and wholly fascinating'” William Boyd

“Cercas writes that he originally tried to fictionalize the event and turn it into ‘a strange experimental version of 'The Three Musketeers’; that’s exactly how the book turned out, and he didn’t have to fictionalize a thing.” The New Yorker 

"Mr Cercas has written a persuasive, brilliant and absorbing book that has more contemporary resonance than even he might have imagined." The Economist 

"Javier Cercas returns to another crucial episode in the history of his country in this dense but gripping, almost Shakespearean account of soldiers, politicians, mixed motives and the lust for power. (...) His subtle intelligence, narrative gifts and intellectual honesty are outstanding." The Telegraph

"This book is captivating, rich in information and in reflections on power, image, and strategy for taking and keeping power. [...] The liveliness of the style is joined by the subtlety of the intelligence of the story, and the finesse of the reflection." Critiqueslibres.com

"Cercas does something more than place himself in the role of puppet master in Spain’s national drama. As the many readers of Soldiers of Salamis are already convinced, he brings back that element of strangeness and chance that already inspired Plutarch and Shakespeare." Le Point

"A challenge between the political and crime genres" "A challenge between the political and crime genres" La Stampa

"A superb mixture of historical focus, literary strategy, and personal background.” Merten Worthman, Literaturen

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