Listen free for 30 days
-
Winter in Madrid
- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Abridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £9.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Blackout
- By: Simon Scarrow
- Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Germany goes to war, the Nazis tighten their terrifying grip. Paranoia in the capital is intensified by a rigidly enforced blackout that plunges the city into oppressive darkness every night, as the bleak winter sun sets. When a young woman is found brutally murdered, criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is under immense pressure to solve the case, swiftly. Treated with suspicion by his superiors for his failure to join the Nazi Party, Schenke walks a perilous line - for disloyalty is a death sentence.
-
-
Wow - Something I had never considered.
- By John L. on 25-05-21
-
Dominion
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great Smog. London. A dense, choking fog engulfs the city and beneath it, history is re-written…1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany after Dunkirk. As the long German war against Russia rages on in the east, the British people find themselves under dark authoritarian rule: the press, radio and television are controlled; the streets patrolled by violent auxiliary police and British Jews face ever greater constraints.
-
-
Dominion: Fantastic and Atmospheric Novel!
- By David on 21-11-12
-
In a House of Lies
- Inspector Rebus, Book 22
- By: Ian Rankin
- Narrated by: James Macpherson
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A missing private investigator is found locked in a car hidden deep in the woods. Worse still - both for his family and the police - the body was in an area that had already been searched 10 years ago. Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is part of a new inquiry, combing through the mistakes of the original case. There were always suspicions over how the investigation was handled, and now - after a decade without answers - it's time for the truth.
-
-
Changing of the Guard?
- By Simon on 13-10-18
-
The Hollow Crown
- The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some of the greatest heroes and villains in British history were thrown together in these turbulent times: Henry V, whose victory at Agincourt and prudent rule at home marked the high point of the medieval monarchy; Edward IV, who was handed his crown by the scheming soldier Warwick the Kingmaker, before their alliance collapsed into a fight to the death; and the last Plantagenet, Richard III, who stole the throne and murdered his own nephews, the Princes in the Tower.
-
-
More unbelievable then Game of Thrones!!
- By Foxhole on 28-01-19
-
A Gentleman in Moscow
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Soon to be a major TV series starring Kenneth Branagh. On 21 June 1922, Count Alexander Rostov - recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt - is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. But instead of his usual suite, he must now live in an attic room while Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval. Can a life without luxury be the richest of all?
-
-
Spoiled by reader
- By barjil on 21-02-19
-
Dissolution
- Shardlake, Book 1
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. And under the orders of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent throughout the country to investigate the monasteries.
-
-
Excellent historical & mystery drama
- By Peter Weatherby on 21-02-15
-
Blackout
- By: Simon Scarrow
- Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Germany goes to war, the Nazis tighten their terrifying grip. Paranoia in the capital is intensified by a rigidly enforced blackout that plunges the city into oppressive darkness every night, as the bleak winter sun sets. When a young woman is found brutally murdered, criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is under immense pressure to solve the case, swiftly. Treated with suspicion by his superiors for his failure to join the Nazi Party, Schenke walks a perilous line - for disloyalty is a death sentence.
-
-
Wow - Something I had never considered.
- By John L. on 25-05-21
-
Dominion
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great Smog. London. A dense, choking fog engulfs the city and beneath it, history is re-written…1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany after Dunkirk. As the long German war against Russia rages on in the east, the British people find themselves under dark authoritarian rule: the press, radio and television are controlled; the streets patrolled by violent auxiliary police and British Jews face ever greater constraints.
-
-
Dominion: Fantastic and Atmospheric Novel!
- By David on 21-11-12
-
In a House of Lies
- Inspector Rebus, Book 22
- By: Ian Rankin
- Narrated by: James Macpherson
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A missing private investigator is found locked in a car hidden deep in the woods. Worse still - both for his family and the police - the body was in an area that had already been searched 10 years ago. Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is part of a new inquiry, combing through the mistakes of the original case. There were always suspicions over how the investigation was handled, and now - after a decade without answers - it's time for the truth.
-
-
Changing of the Guard?
- By Simon on 13-10-18
-
The Hollow Crown
- The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some of the greatest heroes and villains in British history were thrown together in these turbulent times: Henry V, whose victory at Agincourt and prudent rule at home marked the high point of the medieval monarchy; Edward IV, who was handed his crown by the scheming soldier Warwick the Kingmaker, before their alliance collapsed into a fight to the death; and the last Plantagenet, Richard III, who stole the throne and murdered his own nephews, the Princes in the Tower.
-
-
More unbelievable then Game of Thrones!!
- By Foxhole on 28-01-19
-
A Gentleman in Moscow
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Soon to be a major TV series starring Kenneth Branagh. On 21 June 1922, Count Alexander Rostov - recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt - is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. But instead of his usual suite, he must now live in an attic room while Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval. Can a life without luxury be the richest of all?
-
-
Spoiled by reader
- By barjil on 21-02-19
-
Dissolution
- Shardlake, Book 1
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. And under the orders of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent throughout the country to investigate the monasteries.
-
-
Excellent historical & mystery drama
- By Peter Weatherby on 21-02-15
-
Restitution
- By: Eliza Graham
- Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
February, 1945: Europe is in ruins and the Red Army is searing its way across Germany's eastern marches, revenging itself upon a petrified population. The war is over, but for some the fight for survival is only just beginning. Alix, the aristocratic daughter of a German resistance fighter, is alone and desperate to flee before the Reds come. But when a ferocious snowstorm descends she must return to the shelter of her abandoned ancestral home. There, she is shocked to find her childhood sweetheart Gregor.
-
When We Were Orphans
- By: Kazuo Ishiguro
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1930s. Christopher Banks has become the country's most celebrated detective, his cases the talk of London society. Yet one unsolved crime has always haunted him: the mysterious disappearance of his parents, in old Shanghai, when he was a small boy. Moving between London and Shanghai of the interwar years, When We Were Orphans is a remarkable story of memory, intrigue and the need to return.
-
-
Beautifully crafted and gripping.
- By Hilary Falk on 25-06-16
-
Shardlake: Dissolution
- BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Jason Watkins, Mark Bonnar
- Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A thrilling BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation based on CJ Sansom's best-selling Tudor crime novel. Winter, 1537. Henry VIII has declared himself Supreme Head of the Church and instructed his Chief Minister, Thomas Cromwell, to dissolve England's religious houses and seize their wealth. But Cromwell's plot to bring down the abbeys has hit a snag - one of the King's Commissioners has been found brutally murdered in Scarnsea monastery, on the south coast of Kent.
-
-
A good radio adaptation.
- By JPH on 26-09-16
-
Brighton Rock
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unabridged audio edition of Graham Greene's classic gang-war thriller. A gang war is raging through the dark underworld of Brighton. Pinkie, malign and ruthless, has killed a man. Believing he can escape retribution, he is unprepared for the courageous, life-embracing Ida Arnold, who is determined to avenge a death.... Read by Samuel West.
-
-
Excellent.
- By Abi on 09-04-11
-
The Murder List
- DCI Andy Gilchrist
- By: T.F. Muir
- Narrated by: David Monteath
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
St Andrews, Scotland. When an elderly woman's naked body is found in her home, crucified to the floor, DCI Andy Gilchrist and his associate, DS Jessie Janes, find themselves in a hunt for a brutal serial killer. As the body count rises, suspicion falls on Tap 'Dancer' McCrear, a career criminal recently released from prison after serving 15 years for a murder he swore he never committed. As Gilchrist begins to uncover the terrifying truth behind each of the killings, his worst fears are realised when he learns that McCrear is killing everyone involved in his murder trial....
-
-
A gripping book
- By Val Cornwall on 15-02-21
-
Snow
- By: John Banville
- Narrated by: Stanley Townsend
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the discovery of the body of a well-loved parish priest at Ballyglass House - the Co Wexford family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family - Detective Inspector St John Strafford is called in from Dublin to investigate. Facing obstruction from all angles, Strafford is determined to identify the murderer. But, as the snow continues to fall over this ever expanding mystery, the people of Ballyglass are equally determined to keep their secrets.
-
-
Nothing new or interesting here.
- By the typist on 02-10-20
-
The Skull Beneath the Skin
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Katie Scarfe
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Cordelia Gray Mystery. Marking the return of Cordelia Gray, The Skull Beneath the Skin is a complex mystery which more than lives up to its predecessor, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. Hired to protect a beautiful but neurotic actress, Cordelia Gray soon becomes embroiled in a case as dangerous to her own life as it is mysterious. Clarissa Lisle hopes to make a spectacular comeback in a production of The Duchess of Malfi, to be played in Ambrose Gorringe's sinister castle at Courcy Island.
-
-
Performance of narrator
- By Maureen Frost on 10-04-21
-
The Foundling
- By: Stacey Halls
- Narrated by: Laura Aikman, Hattie Morahan
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London's Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst, that Clara has died in care, she is astonished when she is told she has already claimed her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl - and why.
-
-
Just loved every word.....
- By Miss Sarah E Wilby on 16-02-20
-
The Little Friend
- By: Donna Tartt
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 24 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The second novel by Donna Tartt, best-selling author of The Goldfinch (winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize), The Little Friend is a grandly ambitious and utterly riveting novel of childhood, innocence and evil. The setting is Alexandria, Mississippi, where one Mother’s Day a little boy named Robin Cleve Dufresnes was found hanging from a tree in his parents’ yard. Twelve years later Robin’s murder is still unsolved and his family remains devastated.
-
-
Her third best book but still a wonderful story
- By David on 19-07-15
-
The Silver Pigs
- Marcus Didius Falco, Book 1
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One fine day, A.D. 70, Sosia Camillina quite literally runs into Marcus Didius Falco on the steps of the Forum. It seems Sosia is on the run from a couple of street toughs, and after a quick and dirty rescue, P.I. Falco wants to know why.
-
-
Murder, Mystery and Mayhem in First Century Rome!
- By Broadland Wanderer on 25-09-08
-
Rumpole of the Bailey
- By: John Mortimer
- Narrated by: Robert Hardy
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In these witty and comic stories, Horace Rumpole takes on a variety of clients and activities. He, of course, brings each case to a successful end, all the while quoting poetry and drinking claret.
-
-
pure nostalgia for me
- By DRACOS on 29-12-18
-
The Double Agents
- By: W. E. B. Griffin
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Critics and fans alike welcomed the return of the "shrewd, sharp, rousing" (Kirkus Reviews) Men at War series. Now, Dick Canidy and colleagues in the Office of Strategic Services face an even greater task - to convince Hitler and the Axis powers that the invasion of the European continent will take place anywhere but on the beaches of Nazi-occupied France. "Wild Bill" Donovan’s men have several tactics in mind, but some of the people they must use are not the most reliable, so the deceptions require layer upon layer of intrigue.
Summary
Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett: a traumatised 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 is an intimate and compelling tale that offers a remarkable sense of history unfolding and the profound impact of impossible choices.
Critic reviews
"Brilliantly read by Simon Russell Beale and his delivery completely enhances Sansom's superb creation of atmosphere and characterisation. A stunner." ( Daily Express)
"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." ( Independent)
"Few authors have the ability, or capacity for research, which allows them to capture the mood and atmosphere of a period in history, so when one does, and does it as well as CJ Sansom in Winter in Madrid, then they deserve not only praise but success." (Tony Galvin, Dublin Evening Herald)
More from the same
What listeners say about Winter in Madrid
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- chris
- 31-05-07
Interesting historical context - Spanish Civil War
Great spy story in the Le Carre / Greene tradition but with a very interesting setting around the time of the Spanish Civil War, giving some insight into the suffering of the Spanish people after several years of war and with threats from many quarters with people determing their allegiances to the various factions fighting within the country and with ambiguity as to who's on whose side and where the threats are coming from. Interesting characters and good pace - I found this to be a compelling listen.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Thomas
- 24-10-16
The narration is so sombre I've had to give up. I'm sorry to say that the downcast narration ruins the story.
The narration is so sombre I've had to give up. I'm sorry to say that the downcast narration ruins the story. There is no range of emotion, just boredom. As if the main characters are idling away a non eventful afternoon.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 26-02-19
Important history
In parts horrific it is important to know what happened in the Spanish civil war and this book marries important history with a thrilling story of escape and intrigue.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Eleanor
- 04-05-18
Gripping
Another wonderful tale from C J Sansom which enthralled to the end. He weaves history and drama so seamlessly.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 22-01-18
CHSanson, a great author
I have read this book some time ago but as unwell wanted an easy read! This was great do l totally recommend it .
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- C.M.D.
- 18-03-17
C J Sansom can do no wrong
Would you listen to Winter in Madrid again? Why?
I really enjoyed it, but would like to listen to others from this author rather than listen to a story again.
Any additional comments?
Exciting and enjoyable.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- D
- 31-01-17
Excellent
One of the best audiobooks I have listened to, I found it hard to drag myself away. An exciting plot very well delivered.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heber M.
- 17-08-16
Bleak yet compelling
A romance devoid of the romantic atmospheric to the point of sensual you can taste the dust of Spain's agony
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carine
- 04-05-15
Good audiobook.
The book met my expectations. I particularly liked the narrator, who was able to mimick the different accents so well.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lawrie Jenkins
- 16-05-21
A good story reminiscent of Sabastion Faulks.
Excellent reader. Good pace which holds reader's attention. probably not as good as Faulks for characterisation
-
Overall

- Erling Mork
- 20-09-08
A riveting story excellently narrated
I put off this book for a while, fearing a boring "costume drama". But this is anything but. It is the story of 3 men who went to public school in England together, and who meet in Spain during WWII in varying circumstances. The book jumps between various time periods (which can sometimes be confusing -- I wish the narrator had more clearly separated these sections) but which gives a fascinating insight into the characters. It is a spy story, a love story and a war story. Finally, the narration here is simply the best I have heard. By subtely altering his voice the narrator makes the characters come alive in the listener's mind without overdoing it. Pace is perfect, and the narration becomes "transparent" as you become afixed to the story.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Timothy
- 04-08-15
Good story - perhaps too abridged
A well written and narrated novel set around the Spanish Civil war. It explains a little of the history and atmosphere at the time in the natural flow of the story.
Nicely narrated and an easy listen it is perhaps too harshly abridged when compared with Dominion by the same author on Audible that was much better as unabridged.