The Eldorado Network
Encyclopedia
The Eldorado Network is a 1979
1979 in literature
The year 1979 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*V.C...

 espionage novel by Derek Robinson. Three sequels followed, Artillery of Lies in 1991, Red Rag Blues in 2006, and Operation Bamboozle in 2009. The novel, like all of Robinson's work, is based on fact, in this case a genuine double-agent known as "Garbo".

Plot introduction

Set mainly in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 and Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

 in 1940 and 1941, it concerns the young Spaniard Luis Cabrillo, who witnesses the bombing of Guernica
Bombing of Guernica
The bombing of Guernica was an aerial attack on the Basque town of Guernica, Spain, causing widespread destruction and civilian deaths, during the Spanish Civil War...

 during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

, and later joins the Abwehr, or German intelligence service. He is enthusiastic and resourceful, and after completing his training he is sent to London to spy on the British -- codename: Eldorado. However, he only gets as far as Lisbon, where he rents an office, buys an almanac and a guidebook, and begins concocting misinformation to mail back to his superiors in Madrid. The Abwehr pays him for each report and for each agent he recruits, and before long Luis has established a network of spies from all over the British isles.

While inspired by fact, and carefully researched, the novel is rich with Robinson's trademark black humour and verbal wit.
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