‘Incerta glòria’ ('Uncertain Glory') is based on the moral devastation that war inflicts on humans. Joan Sales, author of the homonymous book, is not only one of the greatest authors of Catalan literature, but is also one of the greatest proponents of the language. Expert on the war, he was assigned to the fronts of Madrid, Aragon and Catalonia, where he became commander of the infantry of the Republican army. He managed to survive in various concentration camps in France throughout 1939 and it is not until 1948 that he returns to Catalonia with the aim of publishing all that he can in the Catalan language. In 1954 he faces the adventure of writing “about that which he knows” and from this comes Incerta glòria.

During the function on the 6th December at King’s College London, the translation of El vent de la nit (Winds of the Night), Joan Sales’ novel that gives continuity to the story of the characters of Incerta glòria once the war has finished, will also be presented. The book has been translated by Peter Bush and published by Maclehose Press. After the film showing both guest speakers will give a talk where interaction with the present audience is anticipated.

Paul Preston (Liverpool, 1946) is a historian and professor, Doctor of History from the University of Oxford, lecturer of Contemporary Spanish History and director of the Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies at the London School of Economics.

He makes up, alongside Ian Gibson and Hugh Thomas, the core of British hispanists that have dedicated their efforts to the study of recent Spanish history, especially the Second Republic and the Civil War. Paul Preston is a member of the British Academy, CBE, and has been distinguished with, among others, the 2005 Ramon Llull International Prize and the 2012 Pompeu Fabra Award for the projection and spread of the Catalan language, and in 2016 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Barcelona.

Peter Bush is one of the most prestigious translators of Catalan literature. He has translated great authors including Mercé Rodoreda, Joan Sales and Josep Pla, as well as writers from more recent generations such as Teresa Solana, Francesc Serés o Najat El Hachmi. In addition he has worked as a translator of Portuguese, French and Spanish, specialising above all on the work of the Catalan writer Juan Goytisolo. In 2014 he received the Ramon Llull Prize for Literary Translation for his translation to English of ‘El quadern gris’ by Josep Pla. In 2015 he also received the Creu de Sant Jordi Award for his work in virtue of the projection of Catalan culture and as ‘currently the most important translator of Catalan writing into the English language’.

The function is the result of collaboration between the IRL, the Instituto Cervantes, the Catalan Observatory of King’s College London and the publisher Maclehose Press.