{"product_id":"the-history-of-the-siege-of-lisbon","title":"The History of the Siege of Lisbon","description":"Raimundo Silva, a proofreader at a Portuguese publishing house, takes it upon himself to alter a key word in a text to make it read that in 1147 the king of Portugal reconquered Lisbon from the Saracens without any assistance from the Crusaders. His revision of a signal episode in Portuguese history unexpectedly and inexplicably wins the heart of his supervisor, Maria Sara, a woman of unwavering conviction. Rather than fire him as she ought to, Maria encourages Raimundo to rewrite the history of the siege of Lisbon in the grand style of a historical romance. Around this seemingly minor episode Jose Saramago constructs a broad, multifaceted tableau involving meditations on historiography and the uses and abuses of language, a parable of life under authoritarian rule, and a bittersweet romance.","brand":"Houghton Mifflin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51947317166311,"sku":"9780156006248","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_efcfdffe-341d-4cd4-888b-917164a3c14d.jpg?v=1775486721","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/the-history-of-the-siege-of-lisbon","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}