The main character Pablo Ibbieta, is a prisoner set to be shot by the Phalangists of General Franco at the beginning of the civil war. But they promise to free him, if he reveals the hiding place of his friend Ramon Gris. Pablo refuses, but as a prank he invents a hiding place: the cemetery. But unfortunately, this is exactly where Ramon Gris is hiding!
Sartre gives a vivid impression of the characters' thoughts, fears and memories. And the book illustrates the basis of the so-called existentialist philosophy.