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 enlarge | Author: Alan Furst
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy Used: $7.98
You Save: $17.02 (68%)
New (53) Used (32) Collectible (10) from $7.98
Rating:  70 reviews
Sales Rank: 2245
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 1400066026
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781400066025
ASIN: 1400066026
Publication Date: June 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Almost like new in dust jacket, 1st edition
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| Customer Reviews:
 Interesting reading, but.... September 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I would add only that A. Furst tried to match realities of Poland but did not meet the expectations. Some names are not even taken from a real Warsaw telephone book. I do not dare to mention his stylization of Polish in some phrases; just terrible. Same with names of some real European cities and streets in Warsaw. There are still maps easy available as a reference tool. Not mentioning a common cliche: Soviet agents prosecuted by Stalin because of their Jewish roots. There were many Communist activist of Jewish origin in Stalinist Russia who collaborated actively with NKVD during the Great Purges and later on. In general, it is an entertaining reading with some historical facts. It is not Graham Greene, for sure.
Not one of Furst's best September 2, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
While I enjoyed "The Spies of Warsaw", I don't believe it is as good as the two other Furst novels I have read: "Dark Star" and "Kingdom of Shadows". Once again the hero is a man of action, courage and steely character, when he needs to be. At the same time he is reflective, and very human. Once again I learned some history: the French general staff was divided, with one faction very aware of the threat of a German tank attack through the Ardennes forest; this faction included then Colonel Charles de Gaulle. Marshall Petain was the leader of the other faction which believed that the Maginot line provided safety. This is the same Marshall Petain who accepted leadership of the Vichy government 3 days after the capitulation of France.
Furst several times has his hero express sympathy for the people who would likely be victimized by the looming war. In the other novels the ominous future was there more as an undercurrent. I also believe the women in the other two novels were better developed. "Dark Star" was a more complex, harrowing novel, while "Kingdom of Shadows" had a better plot and pre-war atmosphere.
A Great Read August 29, 2008
Alan Furst's "The Spies of Warsaw" lacks some of the depth and complexity of his early work, but I still enjoyed it. I think I could read anything he wrote--a phone book, a computer instruction manual, a life insurance policy--and appreciate it for Furst's intelligence, his impressionistic prose, and his evocation of atmosphere. He is simply a wonderful writer.
 Outstanding historical fiction August 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the first Furst novel I've read, and boy was I impressed. I had all the symptoms of being hooked on a good book- staying up past my bedtime, skipping ahead for a sneak peek, etc. Jean-Francois is not a perfect man by any means but makes a compelling hero, struggling against the conventional wisdom that holds that Germany won't dare attack France. The coming Armageddon looms over the novel like a shadow. Furst does such a great job of describing ordinary scenes; I was particularly struck by one passage about an embassy dinner- I don't know if they really served those exact dishes in the late 1930's, but if they didn't, Furst sure had me fooled. His writing just draws the reader into the era.
Not Furst's best work, but readable August 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Spies of Warsaw is set in pre-war Poland. The main plot is focused on procuring German engineering schematics for tanks, and ultimately, getting an agent inside the German intelligence machine.
Others have elaborated on the plot, so I'm going to focus on why I think this is one of Furst's weaker efforts. First, the good: The prose, as always, is crisp and has an excellent attention to detail. Furst is a master of capturing the subtitles in both dialogue and details that put him far ahead most other 'genre' writers. His books are supremely readable, and Furst, off his game, is still head-and-shoulders above virtually all of his competition. If you like his other books, you will like this one as well. If you are new to Furst, start with his excellent Dark Star or Night Soldiers. They are more representative of what makes Furst a master of the historical espionage novel.
I've enjoyed all his novels, and I enjoyed this one as well, but like The Foreign Correspondent, the dramatic pacing has fallen off from his earlier work. The protagonist, Colonel Mercier, is interesting and sympathetic, a man working against the odds: French stubbornness, Polish ineptitude, and the relentless frustration of the Germans and their desire for revenge. However, I found him to have less depth than a typical Furst character, and I never really engaged or believed in his specific goals, including his love affairs, which seemed driven more by sexual tension than love. He always behaves with a pristine rationality and purpose that leaves little doubt of his ultimate success, both in the seedy world of the spy, and his romantic interests. There is little to no doubt that Colonel Mercier will achieve all his objectives with relative ease.
This is the most sexually charged of Furst's novels, with Colonel Mercier coming across as a possible sexual addict. He is not amoral, but on the verge of it, once almost willing to rekindle an incestuous relationship with his cousin that began when he was a boy. He totters on the edge of knocking on her door to resume where things left off at thirteen, now an adult, and most certainly knowing better. It's not the sexual content that offends, but the seeming lack of consideration that Colonel Mercier gives sexual matters. If this were a telling element of his character that had larger ramifications and was expanded in the novel, it would be quite interesting. Instead, the reader is left with the sense that Mercier is simply hedonistic, which flies in the face of his other traits: selflessness, intelligence, self awareness, and, strangely, self control.
The pacing in the development of the plot is problematic. Colonel Mercier first pursues a compromised German engineer to secure tank schematics. This branch of plot develops nicely, and I was expecting it to be the main thrust of the book. In a sense it is, but through a mechanistic transition to the pursuit of a key Nazi dissident and the exploitation of his contacts within German Intelligence. This plot line is at times tedious, with very little at stake. One of the unfortunate things about writing the historical novel, is that it is, in fact, historical. The reader knows that Poland will fall, and later France. The procurement of a mid-level German contact and ultimately Germany's war plans for the invasion of France is only so compelling knowing the ultimate outcome. Furst has deftly navigated this territory before, and succeeded because of his protagonist's personal stake in the main action of each book. In The Spies of Warsaw, Mercier's knowledge of the larger events unfolding around him is so detailed and cynical that we cannot ever imagine that his actions and successes will change a thing. We know his small victories are for naught, as he himself on some level also realizes. If the book was a tragedy it would be acceptable. For a spy novel, intended to compel through tension, it is not.
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