Download Winter In Madrid [PDF] By C. J. Sansom

Winter In Madrid book pdf download for free or read online, also Winter In Madrid pdf was written by C. J. Sansom.

C.J. Sansom was educated at the University of Birmingham, where he earned a BA and later a PhD in history. After working various jobs, he retrained to become a solicitor and practiced law in Sussex, eventually becoming a full-time writer.

Winter In Madrid Book PDF download for free

September 1940: The Spanish Civil War ends, Madrid lies in ruins as the Germans continue their march across Europe, and General Franco resists Hitler’s pleas to lead his shattered country into another war. Into this uncertain world arrives a reluctant spy for British Intelligence, sent to gain the trust of Sandy Forsyth, an old school friend-turned-shady Madrid businessman. Meanwhile, a former Red Cross nurse is on her own secret mission.

Through this dangerous intrigue, the captivating story of C.J. Sansom has a remarkable grasp of story development and the profound ramifications of impossible choices.

Winter In Madrid Mirror Book Pdf Download

CJ Sansom is a master of the historical novel, and like his Matthew Shardlake books, this book succeeds in completely immersing you in another time and place. It’s like traveling to Madrid in a time machine in 1940, when Franco won the Spanish Civil War and imposed a dictatorship on the country that was to last for 35 years.

I spent six weeks in Madrid in 1972, when Franco was still in power and the hateful Civil Guard was still omnipresent. I was shocked to realize that the plot of this novel, set in 1940, is closer to 1972 than it is to where I am in Spain today. Although by my time Spain had largely recovered from the ravages of civil war, Sansom’s descriptions brought me back to my own experiences of the Franco government’s oppression. Even the short scene in Burgos, where I just stopped on a weekend trip, brought back memories.

Here’s another hero named Harry, this Harry Brett, who in some ways resembles Goddard’s Harry Barnett. Like an Eric Ambler character, Harry is an innocent embroiled in a spy scheme that baffles and unsettles him, but as a loyal if naïve British subject he dutifully goes about his business, spying on an old public school friend. days ago he landed in Madrid and seems to have literally found a gold mine there.

In fact, Harry and that old friend, Sandy Forsyth, who got kicked out of school for a nasty prank on one of the teachers, and a third student at the school, Bernie Piper, seem to be linked by a strange karma. Piper joined the International Brigades to fight for the Spanish Republic and went missing in action, believed to have died. His former lover, Barbara Clare, a Red Cross nurse, turns to Forsyth in her grief that she meets through an unlikely but believable coincidence. Harry had known Barbara since 1937 when he comforted her with the news of Bernie’s death.

There’s a love triangle, although it might not be what you’re expecting as the plot unfolds in a way that seems leisurely but actually moves at a good pace considering the plot is set over a period of only few weeks is compressed. Harry’s naivety makes him reasonably successful as a spy, and he is able to earn Forsyth’s trust and discover the gold mine that Sandy is trying to sell to the government to pay for much-needed imports.

With Madrid in shambles from war and on the brink of starvation from successive crop failures and a British blockade of many imports, Harry must dupe not only Sandy but also Barbara, who has her own plans – deprivation and oppression are palpable. as Sansom deftly balances the compromises and betrayals each of these British characters, as well as their Spanish counterparts, must make.

There are a few flaws. For some reason, Sansom seems obsessed with the idea that everyone (except Harry) smokes all the time. Yes, it’s okay to remind the reader that people smoked all along during this period, both in Spain and England, but he’s taking it to a distracting level. He could have made his point with a fraction of the references to characters lighting up and blowing out puffs of smoke. On one occasion, twice within two pages, he tells us that Sandy “lit a cigarette” although not enough time has passed to complete the first one and it is clearly an oversight on the part of the author and editor.

Another flaw is that the novel’s action takes place in autumn, despite the frost and cold. In fact, Harry does not spend the winter in Madrid, but arrives in early autumn and departs on the first day of winter. While Sansom intends the title to be metaphorical, it’s technically “Autumn in Madrid” and much of the plot wouldn’t work if it were actually winter.

These detract only slightly from a book that gives you characters to care about, a meticulous recreation of a time and place crucial to understanding the 20th century, and wonderful immersion in language and style.

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