The Silenced

‘An epic story of courage and tragedy’ – Matt Dickinson, The Times ‘A powerful and heart-breaking story about sacrifice and courage’ – Alan Pearey, Rugby World ‘A gargantuan, memorable story, a film in the mak-ing, ready for global success’ – La Repubblica, Italy ‘A powerful and heart-breaking story about sacrifice and courage’ – Le Monde, France Argentina,1978. President Jorge Rafael Videla’s military dictator-ship reigns with an iron fist, kidnapping, torturing and murdering political activists and their families at secret concentration camps. The country is locked in a spi-ral of fear and chaos – and are soon to host the football World Cup As the cacophony of protests against Videla’s government rises, his regime’s drive to ‘disappear’ these troublesome elements accelerates before they can embarrass the junta in front of the world’s media. This is the story of a rugby club that refused to be silenced. When one of their teammates is assassinated, the Club La Plata first XV took a minute’s silence before their next game. The minute ran to two . . . to three . . . For ten long minutes they stood in furious si-lence. When the junta learned of this protest it wasn’t long before reprisals began to be administered to other members of the team. This extraordi-nary novel is based on interviews with survivors of Argentina’s so-called ‘dirty war’ in the seventies, when tens of thousands of protesters disappeared, many never to be found again. Bold, powerful and heart-breaking, The Si-lenced is a portrait of astonishing courage and defiance, and an examination of the unbreakable bonds of a rugby team in the face of seemingly insurmounta-ble odds.