or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
22 used & new from £0.78
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Soldiers of Salamis
 
 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

The Soldiers of Salamis (Hardcover)

by Javier Cercas (Author), Anne McLean (Translator)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.99
Price: £14.24 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £0.75 (5%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, November 25? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
14 new from £4.94 8 used from £0.78
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (1) 7 used & new from £4.89
Paperback (Reprint) 8 used & new from £2.93
12 Days of Christmas Sale in Books
12 Days of Christmas Sale in Books
Get up to 65% off some of our top titles. Shop now

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Soldados De Salamina (Coleccion Literatura) by Javier Cercas

The Soldiers of Salamis + Soldados De Salamina (Coleccion Literatura)
Price For Both: £23.23

One of these items is dispatched sooner than the other. Show details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Soldados De Salamina (Coleccion Literatura)

Soldados De Salamina (Coleccion Literatura)

by Javier Cercas
£8.99
The Speed of Light

The Speed of Light

by Javier Cercas
4.3 out of 5 stars (3)  £5.23
Hiroshima (Penguin Magnum Collection)

Hiroshima (Penguin Magnum Collection)

by John Hersey
4.6 out of 5 stars (12)  £6.98
The Long Voyage (Tusk Ivories)

The Long Voyage (Tusk Ivories)

by Jorge Semprun
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £6.98
Life and Fate

Life and Fate

by Vasily Grossman
4.9 out of 5 stars (18)  £6.96
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (5 May 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747563152
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747563150
  • Product Dimensions: 21 x 14.8 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 539,596 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

SUSAN SONTAG

'With irresistible directness and delicacy, Javier Cercas engages in a quick-witted, tender quest for truth...'


Alberto Manguel

'Ceras has succeeded, with one perfectly crafted book, in single-handedly redeeming the epic genre.'
See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(2)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Soldiers of Salamis
91% buy the item featured on this page:
The Soldiers of Salamis 4.0 out of 5 stars (5)
£14.24
Soldados De Salamina (Coleccion Literatura)
5% buy
Soldados De Salamina (Coleccion Literatura)
£8.99
Life and Fate
2% buy
Life and Fate 4.9 out of 5 stars (18)
£6.96
The Tenant and The Motive
2% buy
The Tenant and The Motive
£7.99
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars "There are no heroes in peacetime...no living heroes.", 21 Mar 2004
By Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Soldiers of Salamis (Hardcover)
In this unusual story of the Spanish Civil War, author Cercas experiments with the voice of his main character and with the form of this novel, which he describes as "a compressed tale except with real characters and situations, like a true tale." The unnamed speaker, a contemporary journalist in his forties, is investigating the story of Rafael Sanchez Mazas, a "good, not great" writer of the 1930s, who, in the final days of the Civil War (1936 - 1939) escaped a firing squad and lived to play a role in Franco's Nationalist government. The speaker believes that "forest friends" may have helped Sanchez Mazas survive the end-of-the-war turmoil, and he becomes obsessed with locating them, identifying the Popular front soldier who chose not to reveal Sanchez Mazas's whereabouts, and learning why they behaved as they did. As he investigates the story of Sanchez Mazas and the complex political alliances of the Civil War, the speaker realizes that he actually knows very little about this war, "not much more than I know about the battle of Salamis."

The speaker, who is obviously Javier Cercas himself, soon begins to expand the scope of his tale, investigating more than the verifiable facts about Sanchez Mazas and musing philosophically about the passage of time, the transcience of youth, the dubious legacy of war, and the nature of heroes. Wartime heroes live only as long as their friends remember them, and lives and memories are short: one must seize the moment and dance a paso doble in the time available.

The complex history of the Spanish Civil War in the first part of the novel is slow, full of unfamiliar names, places, and political alliances, but as the story of Sanchez Mazas unfolds, the reader gradually warms to the speaker's quest to learn everything he can about the incident in the forest. The scenes near the end of the book, set in a nursing home, are full of touching and emotional realizations, conveying powerful, universal messages about war and heroes from one generation to another (and to the reader) without being didactic. Cercas's style is honest and full of self-mockery, though some readers may be put off by his syntactically complex sentences, which are sometimes a page long. Focusing on what it means to be a hero, the novel is a tour de force in which the reader learns as much about the creative process of author Cercas as he does about the almost forgotten author Sanchez Mazas. Mary Whipple

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstandingly written, outstandingly constructed, 26 April 2004
By Barton Keyes "barton keyes" (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
I hesitate to use the words "probably the best book I have ever read" butthis is probably one of the best books I have ever read. It is outstandingin every aspect -- use of language, construction, pace, insight. I have noway of ascertaining if the original Spanish is as good as the translationbut I cannot believe that such a superlative book was not writtensuperlatively well to begin with.
If you think, as I did, that the middle section drags slightly - stickwith it. There is a very good reason that is explained soon into the thirdand final part. You will be well rewarded if you do so.
Occasionally you read a book where the final sentence makes the hair onthe back of your neck stand up. The final page of Soldiers of Salamis didthat for me.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
12 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Soldiers of Salamis, 16 Jun 2003
A moving story which ultimately shows that history can correct itself and that the true heroes of the hour receive recognition, all be it posthumously. Cercas novel highlights the importance the Spanish Civil war played in raising awareness of the evils and blind hatred generated by extreme fascism and communism in 20th century Europe. Miralles and his comrades deserve recognition and respect for the part they played in ensuring the liberties which we take for granted today.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars When is a novel not a novel?
I question whether 'Soldiers of Salamis' is actually a novel. Essentially it is an investigation - a factual account of the research into an historic event by a disillusioned... Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2007 by Michael J. Hunt

3.0 out of 5 stars Soldiers of Salamis
Although this is a good and thoroughly absorbing book, Cercas' political bias is unfortunate. Predictably, by the end, the Falangist writer is portrayed as the amoral coward,... Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2004 by Mr. A. Burkhardt

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject









i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.