"A funny, gripping and perfectly balanced blend of P.G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene" Independent "Highly enjoyable read" Spectator Anthony Whitelands, an English art historian, is invited to Madrid to value the collection of a Spanish duke. At a welcome lunch he encounters José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder and leader of the Falange, a nationalist party whose antics are bringing the country ever closer to civil war. The paintings turn out to be worthless, but before Whitelands can leave for London the duke's daughter Paquita reveals a secret and genuine treasure, held for years in the cellars of her ancestral home. Afraid that the duke will cash in his wealth to finance the Falange, the Spanish authorities resolve to keep a close eye on the Englishman, who is also being watched by his own embassy. As Whitelands - ever a fool for a pretty face - vies with Primo de Rivera for Paquita's affections, he learns of a final interested party: Madrid is crawling with Soviet spies, and Moscow will stop at nothing to secure the hidden prize. Translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor

Eduardo Mendoza's classic novel about the birth of Barcelona as a world city, embodied in the rise of the ambitious and unscrupulous Onofre Bouvila "Though historical in subject matter, this story of Catalonian enterprise and Barcelonan ambition is thoroughly contemporary in spirit" Jonathan Franzen Stung by the realisation that his father is a fraud and a failure, Onofre Bouvila leaves a life of rural poverty to seek his fortune in Barcelona. The year is 1888, and the Catalan capital is about to emerge from provincial obscurity to take its place amongst the great cities of the world, thanks to the upcoming Universal Exhibition. Thanks to a tip-off from his landlord's daughter, Onofre gets his big break distributing anarchist leaflets to workers preparing for the World Fair. From these humble beginnings, he branches out as a hair-tonic salesman, a burglar, a filmmaker, an arms smuggler and a political dealmaker, in a multifaceted career that brings him wealth and influence beyond his wildest dreams. But, just as Barcelona's rise makes it a haven for gangsters, crooks and spivs, vice begins to fester in Onofre's heart. And the climax to his remarkable story will come just as a second World Fair in 1929 marks the city's apotheosis. Translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor

Eksterterano, kapabla alpreni iun ajn aspekton, alvenas al la antau-olimpika Barcelono, kie li perdis sian vojagkunulon Gurb. Per lia taglibro ni ekkonas la nekredeble amuzajn aventurojn kiujn eksterterano travivas en Barcelono, dum li fervore sercas sian kunulon. En ci tiu parodia kaj satira historio, la inventemo de Eduardo Mendoza transformas la ciutagan Barcelonon en scenejon de karnavalo, malantau kiu la vera vizago de la urba estas rivelita. La libron ricigas antauparolo de la autoro mem, kiu priparolas la estigon de la libro kaj la influon kiun la libro havis je lia propra vivo.