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The Anatomy of a Moment by [Javier Cercas, Anne McLean]

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Javier Cercas

The Anatomy of a Moment Kindle Edition

by Javier Cercas (Author), Anne McLean (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition

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In February 1981, just as Spain was finally leaving Francos' dictatorship and during the first democratic vote in parliament for a new prime minister - Colonel Tejero and a band of right-wing soldiers burst into the Spanish parliament and began firing shots. Only three members of Congress defied the incursion and did not dive for cover,: Adolfo Suarez the then outgoing prime minister, who had steered the country away from the Franco era, Guttierez Mellado, a conservative general who had loyally served democracy, and Santiago Carillo, the head of the Communist Party, which had just been legalised.

In The Anatomy of a Moment, Cercas examines a key moment in Spanish history, just as he did so successfully in his Spanish Civil War novel, Soldiers of Salamis. This is the only coup ever to have been caught on film as it was happening, which, as Cercas says, 'guaranteed both its reality and its unreality'. Every February a few seconds of the video are shown again and Spaniards congratulate themselves for standing up for democracy, but Cercas says that things were very quiet that afternoon and evening while all over Spain people stayed inside waiting for the coup to be defeated .... or to triumph.

'Cercas writes brilliantly, in simple, direct language and beautifully, uncontrivedly modulated sentences. His prose is a pleasure - easy without dumbing down' Felipe Fernandez-Armesto

Length: 417 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Audible Narration: Audible Narration Switch back and forth between reading the Kindle book and listening to the Audible narration. Add narration for a reduced price of $3.99 after you buy the Kindle book. Ready	Language: English

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Book Description

The new novel by the bestselling author of Soldiers of Salamis. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

`A brilliant reconfiguring of a key event in contemporary European history. Audacious and wholly fascinating' * William Boyd * `Javier Cercas' gripping account of the attempted Spanish coup in February 1981 uniquely combines a novelist's thrilling narrative skills with an historian's forensic rigour' * Frederick Taylor, author of Exorcising Hitler and Dresden * `Javier Cercas has employed the forensic skill of an investigative journalist and his natural talent for historical narrative to capture a defining moment in a nation's transition from dictatorship to democracy. With this, his latest venture into his country's turbulent history, Cercas can rightly lay claim to being one of Spain's most talented, profound as well as clear literary voices' * Jimmy Burns, author of Papa Spy and Barca * --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

ASIN : B004YVYPP2
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing; 1st edition (7 February 2011)
Language : English
File size : 3007 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 417 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 651,419 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 185 in Spain & Portugal History
- 17,679 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- 29,849 in Contemporary Fiction (Kindle Store)

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35 ratings

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Northumberland Guy

Forensic Examination and poetically written. A delight.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 November 2019

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As a 16 year old Brit at the time of the attempted coup in Spain in 1981 I had a very sketchy knowledge of this pivotal moment in the fragile post Franco democracy that existed in the country at the time and none of the individuals involved.

The sheer scale and breadth of apparent support for the coup (both passive and active) was a huge surprise to me and the analysis of the sole three parliamentarians in the Cortes that confronted the armed Civil Guards who stormed the parliament and a dissection of their very different motivations for doing so was truly fascinating.

The author writes in an engaging style and I can highly recommend this uniquely structured book.

Chris Hagen

Well written and interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 December 2017

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There is no doubt that Cercas is an excellent writer and parts of this book are stupendously well written. The novelistic flare brought to the subject also helps differentiate it from other non-fiction books about Spain and for that we must all be thankful.

There is a rather irritating habit that may well be a result of a translator. Repeatedly Cercas will construct sentences that go something like “X is being oppressed by Y, or X thinks he is being oppressed by Y, or X theorises he is being oppressed by Y” and the repetition of those phrases does start to grate a little bit. Even though one can tell it is a conscious decision by Cercas, one hopes that a translator or editor may have varied the phrases just to make it a bit less repetitive.

Still, that’s a minor quibble for a beautifully written book about a crucial moment in Spanish history

One person found this helpful

jimDurning

From an observer of recent Spanish History

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2021

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I read it twice.I understood it better the second time.
Each section gave me a better understanding of Spain.

How hard it must have been for the old regime to accept change and,loss of absolute power.

Kernowdog

Brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 January 2015

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Meticulously detailed account of the foiled coup d'état in Spain

2 people found this helpful

James D. Keenan

unique insight into post-Franco Spain

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 June 2013

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An excellent imaginative fiction/fact-based insight into the post-Franco era in pain.
Worthy of being on the book shelves of anyone interested I modern-day Spain

One person found this helpful

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