History of the siege of Lisbon

One day, Raimundo Silva, a modest, indecisive proofreader of a large publishing house, breaks the main rule of the profession: while working on a book about the history of Portugal, he adds the part "no": in the 12th century, during the siege of Lisbon, the crusaders did not come to the aid of the Portuguese queen Alfonso I. So with just one word, Raimundu changes national history: without this support, the city would not have been taken and the fate of the country would have been completely different.

Having discovered the mistake, Raimundov's boss, Maria-Sara, interested in such an impudent idea, offers him to write a book - a new history of the siege of Lisbon. A lover of Maria Raimunda undertakes to create such a hoax.

In "History of the Siege of Lisbon", the present and the imagined past flow into each other in a complex structure: from medieval knights to modern politicians, from Freudian symbolism to Machiavelli, from the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor to the construction of a tower by the Portuguese army in order to break the resistance of the Moors.

In this novel, José Saramago explores the lust for power, religious and political fanaticism, intolerance, hypocrisy and chauvinism, the human need for love, companionship, intimacy, and the impact of chance on the lives of millions of people and the course of world events.

The translation and publication of this book was supported by the European Union under the "House of Europe" program.

Please note: the book is printed with pantone 4290 U, which has a pale gray shade.