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Winter in Madrid

A Gripping Historical Espionage Thriller Set in Wartime Spain

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About this listen

From the bestselling author of the Shardlake series, C. J. Sansom, comes Winter in Madrid, a standalone historical novel set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.

1940: The Spanish Civil War is over, and Madrid lies ruined, its people starving, while the Germans continue their relentless march through Europe. Britain now stands alone while General Franco considers whether to abandon neutrality and enter the war.

Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett: a traumatized veteran of Dunkirk turned reluctant spy for the British Secret Service. Sent to gain the confidence of old school friend Sandy Forsyth, now a shady Madrid businessman, Harry finds himself involved in a dangerous game – and surrounded by memories.

Meanwhile Sandy's girlfriend, ex-Red Cross nurse Barbara Clare, is engaged on a secret mission of her own – to find her former lover Bernie Piper, a passionate Communist in the International Brigades, who vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama.

In a vivid and haunting depiction of wartime Spain, Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom is an intimate and compelling tale which offers a remarkable sense of history unfolding, and the profound impact of impossible choices.

 20th Century Espionage Historical Historical Fiction Mystery Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction War Exciting Scary Civil War Winter

Critic reviews

Sansom adroitly draws the disparate strands of his ambitious saga together. His non-pareil evocations of time and place anchor his characters with satisfying precision
An unsentimental and utterly fascinating portrait of Spain in 1940 . . . Sansom wears his research lightly and gets right under the skin of his characters. The result is a tense, literate page-turner, full of twists, authentic detail and real pathos, a superb achievement
A convincing and moving historical novel, which is also an exciting thriller . . . Sansom has a good eye for detail that brings the time alive
Thoroughly researched, convincingly evocative and solidly entertaining
Sansom triumphs as he unravels the tissues of lies and deceptions . . . a gripping, readable story
All stars
Most relevant
This was a gripping tale, brilliantly read. The narration and story telling brought this drama and traumatic times to life

Superb. A real immersive read

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Even if they're not prevented from winning, the powers that be will defeat them once they have. Thanks to all the Bernies who have lived and died to prove this.

Democratically Elected Socialist Governments

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you can tell the author knows the era well so you get a historically accurate foundation with a really good spy /rescue story with lots of fictional characters woven through real events and people. I haven't heard anything from this author before so I'm really looking forward to finding more.

excellent !

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There’s no doubt I learned a lot about this period in Spain’s history which was definitely worth my time listening. However, it was slow to get going. The tone was quite ponderous( although it suited the period) and I never really felt invested in any of the characters which is always important to me personally as a reader. That said, I do feel it was worth listening to in the end as I’m sure I would have given up actually reading it. It just needed some oomph somewhere along the line!

I know a lot more about Spanish history than I did!

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I enjoyed the peace of this. While the plot thickened there was always plenty ticking over and the author's skill set contextualising his stories within real history is very clever and insightful.

Gripping and pacey

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