Pedro Manuel Martín Lodares is a modern crusader. A crusader in an irrational world full of hatred, a crusader in the Spanish Civil War. Narrated by his nephew, the novel recounts the latter's memories of the stories his uncle told him and his sister about the experiences of his youth. Loardes tells of his life before, during and after the Civil War and how, among a series of vicissitudes, his alienation and the desire to live for beauty came into being, the latter being a quality that marks the origin and meaning of human endeavour in a world that despises it. Amidst the horrors of the Civil War and the fruitless hatred it provokes, Uncle Pedro sets out on his own crusade, which consists of battling the demons who laugh at love and beauty, making it a necessary crusade at any time.