Customer Reviews: Read 81 more reviews...
 Historically good October 12, 2008
I picked this book up while on tour and read it within a couple of weeks. At first I thought it had potential with the prologue showing the Civil war and focusing on one of the communist soldiers Bernie and then the air raids on London and how the people of London coped with this. However once the character goes to Madrid the plot slows right down and then doesn't seem to pick up again until the end and the plot twist, which I won't ruin for you.
I think the book is worth a read just for the historical value. It does show how bad the civil war was in Spain and if like me you don't know much about that part of history it does explain a lot.
By far not the best book I have read but still enjoyable
 An almost-brilliant novel October 9, 2008
I only bought this because of the title and the subject (I'm interested in the Spanish Civil War), and it sat, unread, on my bookshelf for a year. Only when I'd read Sansom's Shardlake novels did I give it a go. The first thing that struck me is how different it is this from those others. Although I'm blown away by the Shardlake series, and want more, this is a marvellous read on its own. A bit predictable, maybe, and the end seems a bit hurried, but well worth reading.
 stodgy and disappointing August 18, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having an interest in the Spanish civil war and liking crime novels, i thought this would be just right, but found it all wrong.Yet another book that relies, in the plot, on improbable coincidences that feel like a deception, an easy way out. Life in postwar Madrid does not seem real, although it may be well-researched. The writing is overblown - too many adjectives, too many unnecessary awkward details: (his eyes went flickering over the desk...)and the characters talk in a kind of brief-encounter-speak, which soon palls. Worst of all, there is no real pace in the book, or drive to find out what is going to happen next to the uninteresting characters. The reviews quoted on the cover are baffling, and just show that you shouldn't believe everything you read in the newspapers...
 Magnificent and moving July 31, 2008
After two days of compulsive reading I have just finished this book, one of the best I have read in a long time. Sansom's clever portrail of his main characters during a difficult and bloody time in Madrid is gritty, thoughy-provoking and utterly believable. He manages to weave together an exceptional plotline with brilliant narrative and credible characters, set in the run up to and also during the second world war, with great flair and ease. His account of conditions in Madrid is historically accurate and really draws the reader in, whilst the strong characters guide you thorugh the intriguing story. At times I simply could not put this book down, and having finished it, my mind it still reeling at the outcome and thinking about the characters. All in all this was a great read, thrilling, romantic, historical and tear-jerking. I cannot recommend it enough.
Gripping from start to finish! June 19, 2008
A superb thriller, I have been absolutely riveted by it, totally gripped and intrigued throughout this story.
Would highly recommend it if you're after an interesting, moving and suspenseful tale.
Set against the backdrop of the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, Sansom tells a brilliant tale of three former school acquaintances, Sandy and Bernie and Harry, and what has happened to them during and after the SC War.
The action takes place mainly in Madrid, which has been devastated by the conflict and the aftermath, many of the people destitute and cities ravaged. Harry is recruited by the British government to find out more about the current activities in Spain of Sandy, who is now with Barbara, Bernie's former love. Bernie is now missing presumed killed in fighting during the War as part of the International Brigades.
There are many fascinating and believable characters whose fates I grew to really care about, not only the lead ones but also those depicted working at the British Embassy in Madrid at the time, and I felt that the story was really fitted neatly into the historical context by Sansom. It evokes a tangible feeling of place and time that the reader can enter. The novel stirs many emotions, pain and anger, love, hate, horror and hope. It is thrilling right until the final page of the epilogue as we discover the fate of each character. Look forward to reading more by Sansom.
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