David Sánchez's book reconstructs the military sacrifice of all kinds of species, glorified for their deeds in isolated cases but forgotten as victims of war. The book rescues stories from all time, including the vessels with poisonous snakes that the Carthaginian Hannibal Barca threw against the enemy ships.

The 11 million equines – horses, mules, donkeys – that died in the Great War as transport, cargo and draft animals. The dolphins trained by Putin's Russia for combat in polar waters, or the cetaceans of the United States to locate underwater mines. Albino rats dedicated to detecting mines in the Colombian jungle.