In his most recent novel, Arturo Perez-Reverte journeys into uncharted territories to write a sweeping story of obscure and passionate love. El tango de la Guardia Vieja follows the love story of Max, a charming hustler, accomplished ballroom dancer and elegant thief, and Mecha, a beautiful and intelligent high-society matron. In the three powerful encounters that occur during four decades in the 20th century, the author depicts a affair that evolves from the passionate bursts of youth to the melancholy of reminiscence, and the beginning of old age. The novel is also a broad and carefully documented fresco of a fading continent--the Europe of the 1920's, 1930's and 1960's. The plot includes a dangerous incident in the slums of Buenos Aires; an intelligence conspiracy in inter-war period Nice with allusions to the Spanish Civil War; and a disquieting game of chess in Sorrento, played over the checkered squares of the Cold War. Love, passion, and lust come together with Perez-Reverte's characteristic dose of adventure.