Un joven periodista indaga en un episodio ocurrido en los meses finales de la guerra civil española, cuando las tropas republicanas se retiran hacia la frontera francesa y se toma la decisión de fusilar a un grupo de presos franquistas. Entre estos se halla Rafael Sánchez Mazas, fundador e ideólogo de Falange, que no solo logra escapar del fusilamiento, sino que, cuando salen en su busca, un soldado anónimo le encañona y, en el último momento, le perdona la vida. Sánchez Mazas nunca olvidará a aquel soldado que no lo delató. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION 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.