Lord of All the Dead

Reviews / Votes

There is no-one writing in English like this: engaged humanity achieving a hard-won wisdom -- David Mills * The Times * A remarkable act of personal history: brave, revelatory and unflinchingly honest -- William Boyd Cercas' candid wranglings with how to tell this tale, his own deep discomfort and the grave maturity with which he acknowledges he can't feel morally superior to Mena make him a wonderfully warm and wise guide through this sad, small chapter of the Spanish Civil War. -- Siobhan Murphy * The Times * One of the strengths of Lord of All the Dead is the breadth of its subject matter. . . In this elegant and penetrating narrative Cercas shows us how important it is that Mena's life is not forgotten -- Nick Major * Glasgow Herald * It's a subversive and disenchanted view of war in general and the Spanish conflict in particular, in a fine translation by Anne McLean . . . It can be moving, unexpectedly funny,
racy, demotic or deadpan. -- Lee Langley * Spectator * An excellent novel . . . fascinating both in its exploration of the past and in the playful creativity of its own narrative. -- Angel Basanta * El Cultural * An admirable novel, truly unique -- Alberto Moreiras * La marea * Only Cercas could have written a novel like this, at the peak of his maturity as a writer; he is one of the best we have -- Jose Maria Pozuelo Yvancos * ABC * A brave, persuasive novel -- Jose-Carlos Mainer * El Pais * A powerful work of D.I.Y. history . . . It may help Spaniards, and people further afield, to better understand the lure of Fascism, a pressing task in today's world" * New Yorker *