Rubén Gallego, the only survivor from a twin pregnancy, is handicapped since his birth and lives on a wheelchair. At the moment of this birth, he was believed to be dead by his mother, the daughter of a Spanish Communist Party leader who had fled to the USSR, and grew up in an orphanage tormented by his fellow orphans and with few but significant friends. His only weapons were clear right from the start: determination and intelligence, fuelled by reading and writing. Red torpedo tells this story using Gallego's own voice, who has achieved international success with his autobiography "Bianco su nero" which describes with irony and clarity of thought, the most crucial moments of his life intertwined with the story of his own country during those years.