On February 23, 1981, a group of about 200 Civil Guards, led by Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero, burst onto the floor of the Cortes (the Spanish congress), firing guns and demanding that the King announce the end of Spain’s just emerging democracy. Chema de la Peña brings this watershed moment of Spanish history—whose reverberations can still be felt today—to vibrant life, moving from the conspirators to those who oppose them to the King, who prepares to make the most important speech of his life.