Ida y vuelta

The life of Jorge Semprún is practically the history of Europe in the 20th century, and perhaps he is the Spaniard who comes closest to "the rootless travelers of the century", as Tony Judt described the intellectuals. Without a doubt, along with Picasso and García Lorca, he is the Spaniard of the 20th century with the greatest projection and international relevance. In this absorbing biography Soledad Fox follows Semprún's incredible career, from his birth in 1923, into a family of the Madrid upper bourgeoisie; the trauma of civil war and exile; the passage through the maquis and the deportation to Buchenwald; communist militancy; his reinvention as a writer and screenwriter after his tumultuous departure from the PCE; and he passed through the Spanish Ministry of Culture in the government of Felipe González. Fox has invested five years and impeccable research work in archives in France and Spain and more than fifty interviews to obtain the excellent biography that a character like Semprún deserves.