The novel describes the events surrounding the 1968 Mexican Student Movement from the author's point of view, including two of the incidents that preceded the massacre: The first edition, published in 1971 and limited to just 2,000 copies, had the following description on the back cover:[1][2] This book is a testimony as well as a reflection.

Thus, we discover in a realistic, objective, and, at the same time, intimate way, the reasons and questions from a young conscience that decided to take action, leave behind an individualistic outlook and embrace a collective one.

Without a doubt, this is the first literary work born of the Student Movement, facing the crystallization of a conscience nourished on its own commitment: before the interior wound heals, it is necessary to come to terms with it.

Some of the central themes that surround the process of writing this novel include fights, marches, rallies, skirmishes, pursuits, defamation, corruption, state-sponsored terrorism, imprisonment, and lawsuits against political leaders.

González de Alba narrates from his own experiences, reporting on events occurring in the context of Mexico's 1968 Student Movement.

The National Strike Council convenes the entire student community in Mexico so that the government can fulfill the demands of the movement's petitionary suit,[4] which included:[5] Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexico's president in 1968, decides to ignore the National Strike Council's petitions despite the myriad persons who have joined the cause, from politicians and celebrities to artists and writers, like Juan Rulfo and Juan José Arreola.

The first account narrates the events that occurred in the 1968 Student Movement and prior to the Tlatelolco massacre, seen from González de Alba's perspective and experience.

Problems with the government discrediting the National Strike Council's cause since the protests and repression following August 27, 1968; the government's noncompliance with the requests of the petitionary suit; planning a silent vigil for September 1, 1968; relating events during the August 1, 1968 march; September 15, 1968 festivities for Mexican Independence Day.

The military capture of Casco de Santo Tomás (an area where one of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional campuses is located in Mexico City) and the resulting disorganization; rallies in support of Barros Sierra; attacks by the Federación Nacional de Estudiantes Técnicos (National Federation of Technical Students) armed with automatic weapons on the gates and guards of educational institutions tied to the student movement; reorganization of the National Strike Council in response to the assault on Casco de Santo Tomás; use of the student movement as a political weapon in the battle between presidential candidates; rejection of the resignation of Barros Sierra and his return to the position of rector; an end to the occupation of Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City on the request of Barros Sierra on September 30, 1968.

González de Alba denied that the suit was a matter of plagiarism, admitting that he himself sent Poniatowska accounts of his experiences before the book was published.