Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936) is on one view a Catholic apologist but on another an early existentialist. He died in 1936, shortly after facing being cut down cold-heartedly by a Fascist general in the Spanish Civil War for ridiculing the idea that one side of the war was more evil (or good) than the other. This novel and two stories illustrate the mental struggle of the intelligent man in accepting the directions of religion in a world that has gone sour. Unamuno's classic work is "The Tragic Sense of Life in Men and in Peoples", the discussions of which these stories illustrate beautifully. This particular Gateway Edition (1956) by Henry Regnery Co. appears to have been the first translation into English, by Anthony Kerrigan, who also write an Introduction describing the life and work of Unamuno. The novel is "Abel Sanchez", a story of good and evil in the retelling of the Cain-and-Abel tale; "The Madness of Dr. Montarco", the story of a self-willed man; and "Saint Emmanuel the Good, Martyr", the story of a priest who has lost his personal faith but who keeps up the appearance for the good of his parishioners who still have theirs.
