Cover image of "Winter in Madrid," q Spanish Civil War novel

Journalist Harry Brett had visited Spain in 1931 with a schoolmate, Bernie Piper, and returned six years later. Then, Bernie had gone missing while fighting along with Communist volunteers against Franco’s nationalist forces. It’s now another three years later, 1940-41, and the civil war is in the rear-view mirror. But British intelligence recruits Harry for a special assignment. Another of his schoolmates, Sandy Forsyth, appears to be digging a gold mine for General Franco. And if he has in fact discovered significant gold reserves, it may enable Spain to buy its way out of the British embargo that keeps Franco from allying the country with the Axis powers. This is the set-up in historical novelist C. J. Sansom’s venture into espionage fiction. Though less than fully convincing (unlike his novels of the 16th century), it’s a suspenseful Spanish Civil War novel set during an era that’s unfamiliar to most readers.

Three former schoolboys, crossing paths in post-Civil War Spain

In the late 1920s, Harry, Bernie, and Sandy were teenagers as roommates at Rookwood, an English “public” school. But the three couldn’t have been more different. Sandy was estranged from his father, an Anglican bishop and thus a member of the Establishment. Bernie, a passionate socialist, was the son of a grocer and attending the school on a scholarship. And Harry’s posh accent gave him away as a member of the ruling class. Yet he was the only one of the three who got along with both of the others. Bernie and Sandy despised each other. And, once he has encountered them both in Spain, he recognizes that they haven’t changed. Unsurprisingly, those attitudes will help determine the course of events as Harry reluctantly sets out on his mission for MI6.

Winter in Madrid by C. J. Sansom (2006) 537 pages ★★★★☆

Photo of Madrid in 1940, a scene in this Spanish Civil War novel
Just four years prior to the events that transpire in this novel, much of Madrid looked like this. Generalissimo Francisco Franco’s forces seized the city after a long siege against the Communist-led Republicans. And the city had not recovered by 1940, whent this book is set. Image: Juan Miguel Pando Barrero – Hemingway in the Martyred City

Four principal characters, two plot lines

A woman completes the four-corner geography of the relationships at the heart of this novel. Her name is Barbara Clare, and when Harry met her in 1937 she was Bernie’s girlfriend. She refused to credit the reports that he had died in the fighting. Barbara is convinced he is secretly being held prisoner by Falangist forces, as is the case with a limited number of other foreign fighters General Franco wants to keep hidden in Spain. Yet when Harry returns in 1940 he is shocked to learn that Barbara is now living with Sandy.

The story in Winter in Madrid proceeds along two paths. One is Harry’s effort to learn just what sort of shady operation Sandy has underway in the countryside. He is skeptical of the claim that Sandy has discovered gold, even though the evidence continues to mount that the claim is credible. Meanwhile, Barbara is secretly working with anti-Fascist activists to learn whether Bernie is, in fact, still alive. The book approaches a satisfying climax as Harry and Barbara both proceed ever closer to the end of their quests.

About the author

Photo of C. J. Sansom, author of this Spanish Civil War novel
C. J. Sansom. Image: Rex- SkyNews

Christopher John Sansom (1952-2024) is best known for his series of seven historical novels set during the reign of Henry VIII. The books, published from 2003 to 2018, feature a brilliant hunchbacked lawyer named Matthew Shardlake. Winter in Madrid is one of only two other historical novels he has written.

Sansom was born in 1952 in Edinburgh. He attended the University of Birmingham, where he earned both a BA and a PhD in history. He later retrained as a solicitor and practiced as a lawyer for the disadvantaged until turning to writing full-time.

Previously I reviewed the first five books in the author’s celebrated Matthew Shardlake series as well as his superb alternate history:

I’ve also reviewed several books about the Spanish Civil War, including:

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