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In the 15th century, Portugal, located at the end of the European continent, led the "Geographical Discovery" and opened the glorious age of navigation. In the 1970s, as all African colonies became independent, the former maritime heroes were driven back home and hurriedly stranded in the ruins of the empire. In the distorted and superimposed time and space, Fernand Mendez Pinto, who traveled in Asia for decades and wrote "Travel", became a peddler selling defective products. Vasco da Gama, the "discoverer" of India, won half of Portugal by cheating, and Xavier, the saint who was dedicated to spreading the gospel of Christ, turned into a pimp... The truth and falsehood of history gave birth to scenes of absurd tragedies and comedies, and ambition and fanaticism were shattered in the waves along with the dream of empire. The voyage ship returned dejectedly from the sea, but the train connecting Europe on land was roaring. Between the sea and the land, Africa and Europe, Portugal is struggling to reshape its past, present and future.

Uncovering those fever nightmares, "At the End of the World" tells the story of a Portuguese military doctor who suffers from memories of the war. The young narrator is thrown into the battlefield of Angola, Africa without warning, and is forced to engage in a crazy ghost battle. He could never forget the high degree of loneliness and isolation on the foreign battlefield, the terror and bloodshed in the smoke. After spending twenty-seven months in purgatory at the end of the world filled with red sand and dust, he returned to Lisbon, only to find that his homeland and friends had become so strange. He could only court unknown women in bars night after night, recounting his painful and cruel war experiences and his inability to resolve psychological trauma. In this autobiographical masterpiece, Antunes recreates that special historical period for readers through poetic writing, and deeply reflects on the heroic narrative of overseas colonization throughout Portuguese history.