Lord of all the dead : a nonfiction novel / Javier Cercas ; translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean.
Material type:
TextLanguage: English Original language: Spanish Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2020Edition: First editionDescription: 269 pages : illustrations ; 22 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780525520900
- 0525520902
- Monarca de las sombras. English
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | Fiction | Cercas, Javier | Available | 33111009593381 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
In this deeply personal work of historical interrogation, Javier Cercas--"the bard of [the] movement for the recovery of Spain's suppressed memory" ( The New York Times Book Review )--unpacks the legacy of the Spanish Civil War by way of his own family's history. Growing up, Cercas was inculcated with the legend of his beloved great-uncle, Manuel Mena, who died at nineteen in the bloodiest battle of the Spanish Civil War--while fighting for Franco. Who was this young man? A fascist hero whose memory is now an embarrassment or a committed idealist who happened to fall on the wrong side of history? In Lord of All the Dead , Cercas pieces together the life of his enigmatic relative and in so doing tells the story of an entire generation. Combining intimate family history, investigative scholarship, personal confession, and a novelist's imagination, Cercas has crafted a transcendent portrait of a country's indelible scars, a book about heroism, death, the persistence of the past, and the meaning of an individual life against the tapestry of history.
"A Borzoi book"--Title page verso.
Originally published in the Spanish language as El monarca de las sombras by Javier Cercas, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, S. A. U. in 2017.
"From the internationally renowned author of The Impostor, a courageous journey into his own family history and that of a country collapsing from a fratricidal war--his most moving, most personal book, one he has spent his entire life preparing to write. Javier Cercas grew up hearing the legend of his adored great-uncle Manuel Mena, who died at nineteen in the bloodiest battle of the Spanish Civil War--while fighting for Franco's army. Who was this young man? A fascist hero whose memory is an embarrassment or a committed idealist who happened to fall on the wrong side of history? Is it possible to be a moral person defending an immoral cause? Through visits back to his parents' village in southern Spain, interviews with survivors, and research into the murkiest corners of the war, the author pieces together the life of this enigmatic figure and of an entire generation. This sui generis work combines intimate family history, investigative scholarship, personal confession, war stories, and road trips, finally becoming a transcendent portrait of a country's indelible scars--a book about heroism, death, the persistence of the past, and the meaning of an individual life against the tapestry of history"-- Provided by publisher.