Un día de cólera

May 2, 1808: Arturo Pérez-Reverte brings back to life the protagonists of the day that changed Spain's destiny.

This account is neither fiction nor a history book. Nor does it have a specific protagonist, as innumerable men and women were involved in the events of May 2, 1808, in Madrid. Heroes and cowards, victims and executioners, history retained the names of many of them: the lists of dead and wounded, military reports, memoirs written by main or secondary actors in the tragedy, provide rigorous data for the historian and set limits to the novelist's imagination. All the people and places that appear here are authentic, as are the events narrated and many of the words spoken.

In Un día de cólera, Arturo Pérez-Reverte transforms the small and obscure individual stories recorded in archives and books into collective history. What is imagined, therefore, is reduced to the narrative mortar that unites the pieces. With the minimal licenses that the word novel justifies, these pages aim to bring back to life those who for two hundred years have only been anonymous characters in contemporary engravings and canvases, or a brief list of names in official documents.

Critics have said...
«Arturo Pérez-Reverte impressively revives the fierce day of May 2, 1808, in Madrid in Un día de cólera, bringing it back to the streets with all its blood and savagery and with a documentary tone.»
Jacinto Antón, El País

«Arturo Pérez-Reverte's talent is demonstrated in his ability for the close-up, for revealing the particular, the individual, within the grand historical panorama. He identifies his characters, calls them by name, brings them to life, and the gesture of heroes and heroines stands out epically in the collective feat as a sign of the courage of their people.»
Justo Navarro, El País