The Spies of Warsaw

Great news has arrived for those fans of Alan Furst who thought he mailed in his last work, The Foreign Correspondent: A Novel. The master of the historical spy novel is back at the top of his game in The Spies of Warsaw. Furst centers his story in Warsaw, the scene of some his best writing and the return is triumphal. The typical Furst protagonist is the ordinary man of above-average principles, thrust by accident of history into the dangerous interstices of inter-war Europe. This time, however, our man is one Jean-Francois Mercier, decorated hero of the Great War and wounded veteran of the Polish victory in the 1920 Battle of Warsaw - the Miracle at the Vistula - and new military attaché at the French embassy and a professional spook. Mercier runs an agent who works as engineer in an armaments company Germany, but who also develops a taste for Warsaw honey and promptly falls into the honey trap. By indirect route that leads to a one-sided vendetta against Mercier of which he is the unknowing target. Mercier falls in lust early in the book, but later finds himself fully in love while he continues to troll for secrets and potential agents. His work leads him into several adventures in which the risks of failure range from embarrassing to deadly. Furst brilliantly recreates the atmosphere of pre-war days - the end of happiness and hope. Mercier's attempts for even a brief mental respite from the looming NAZI threat are futile; the reminders everywhere. His description of the formal dining room at a Warsaw party in the city's finest hotel puts the reader in the room: the "sheen of the damask tablecloth, the heavy silver, and the gold-rimmed china glowed in the light of a dozen candelabra". Details to delight. A trip to Paris includes the now-obligatory Furstian visit to Brasserie Heininger and a peak at the infamous bullet hole in the mirror of Table 14. We learn that Mercier is a fan of Georges Simenon and Stendhal. Mercier struggles to help France resist the NAZI's in the coming war that palpably hangs over Europe and every page in the book. As he learns, however, there are those in France who view Soviet Russia as the true enemy and Nazi Germany as potential allies. Moreover, intelligence that questions accepted wisdom, in this case of Marshal Petain and the ruling clique in the military, is seldom welcome. The books powerful ending leaves the reader angry and impotent. Highest recommendation.

John LeCarre, "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" As its title suggests, there are more than a few spies in Alan Furst's latest novel "The Spies of Warsaw." None of them are priests, none are saints and none strive for martyrdom. What we find are a willing and unwilling collection of French, Polish, German, and Russian operatives in pre-WWII Poland. The result is a typically good Furst novel, one rich in atmospherics and character development but free of comic-book style heroics and world-saving, death-defying stunts or car chases. Set in Warsaw, the character at the center of "The Spies of Warsaw" is Colonel Mercier. A career soldier and veteran of The Great War, Mercier is France's Military Attaché to Poland. It is 1937 and Mercier, not unlike the professional diplomats, military figures, and other assorted characters that he deals with, is aware that another war is not very far away. Mercier's real job function is that of chief intelligence officer. As the story opens he is simply gathering information on German armament programs. As the story progresses Mercier focuses on German tank building, strategy, and deployment. Furst comes from a line of writers that can be traced back to both Graham Greene and Eric Ambler. Like Ambler (and unlike LeCarre for example) Furst often takes an unassuming, or unwitting civilian and immerses him in a world of mystery and intrigue in pre-World War II Europe. Furst's strong point has always been how he sets the scene. His atmospherics are tremendous. His descriptions of the streets of Warsaw, Berlin or Paris and the atmosphere of those cities reek of authenticity. Similarly, Furst has a keen eye for the inner life of his protagonists. Almost invariably Furst manages to convey a real sense of how those protagonists think and feel. Both of these elements of his writing generally dominate his plotting and are primarily responsible for getting the reader to turn to the next page. This is certainly the case with Spies of Warsaw. The plot, such as it is, really isn't a plot in the traditional sense, where after the first few chapters you have some central `goal' to grab a hold of. Rather, what we have here is a linear and (seemingly) realistically drawn story of a French intelligence officer and the people he interacts with in the months leading up to WWII. Mercier isn't searching for the Holy Grail or seeking to head off an assassination. Rather, he is tasked with gathering information even when he isn't quite sure exactly what information he needs or how to analyze the information he does receive. Similarly, the book did not really build to a real climax. The book ended more with a knowing sigh than with a bang. Everyone reading Furst will know the fate of Poland in 1939. Some may find that a bit disappointing. However, as readers of Furst's books already know his novels strive for authenticity. In much of life, particularly in the era Furst writes about, storybook endings or dramatic endings

It is the Autumn of 1937 and a European War is on the horizon. The German people are bitter about their defeat during the First World War and Adolph Hitler is promising them revenge. Europe will soon be plunged into war and the French Military Intelligence Service is hard at work trying to devine German War Plans. In Warsaw, Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier is the new French Army Attache to Poland. His official job is to promote good relations between the French and Polish Army Staffs. His real job is to gather military intelligence from any source he can mine. Alan Furst has made his career in espionage novels. His haunts are the more obscure European countries and his heroes are the average, working spies. "The Spies of Warsaw" fits his pattern. There are no master spies or high level conspiracies. Just an ordinary military attache at work in the charged atmosphere of pre-war Poland. This is Alan Furst's tenth espionage novel and "Spies of Warsaw" is one his better books. He is a very strong writer who spends a lot of time on historical research. Furst fills this novel with all the rich details that allows him to recreate Warsaw in the late 1930's. The greatest writer of these types of espionage tales is the remarkable English writer, Eric Ambler. He wrote great espionage novels in the late 1930's during the rise of facism in Europe. Through his many fine novels, Alan Furst has become the inheritor of Eric Ambler's legacy. "The Spies of Warsaw" is another great addition to Furst's body of work. Highly recommended.

1937. A German engineer working for a military contractor. A Polish countess who probably is not a countess. The French military attache. Welome to Alan Furst country. "The Spies of Warsaw" is yet another in Furst's cycle of novels set in the 1930s and WW2, dealing with spies and the shadow world. Reading a Furst novel is, in the best sense, like watching a classic black-and-white movie with a plot by Eric Ambler. Alan Furst's plots are more John leCarre than Ian Fleming, but there is no shortage of desperate action and tense drama in "The Spies of Warsaw", combined with some very real-world espionage activity that could have come straight from the files of any spy agency. The central character, Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier is a decorated veteran of the First World War who discovers a real talent and genuine passion for the war of espionage. And there is the usual supporting cast of shadowy characters living on the knife's edge. And of course -- as any Alan Furst reader will expect -- there is a visit to the Brasserie Heininger and its famous Table 14. I bought a copy of the novel early this afternoon, and read it straight through to its conclusion in a marathon reading session. "The Spies of Warsaw" is one of Alan Furst's best, and that is saying something. It reminded me, in a very good way, of Furst's "The Polish Officer", perhaps my favorite of the entire cycle.

The "spy" is "an ordinary-looking man, who led a rather ordinary life" --- he's a mid-level engineer at a German ironworks, married, with three children. But as he takes the train to Warsaw in the autumn of 1937, his leather satchel contains some engineering diagrams. Once in Warsaw, he'll give them to his contact. But first Edvard Uhl will spend the night with Countess Sczelenska. He'd met her a year ago, in the small city where he lived with his family. She told a charming story of real estate troubles and financial reversals. He was sympathetic. Ten days later, in Warsaw, they were lovers. Of course it turned out that she had a "cousin" who was seeing a Frenchman, and the Frenchman had a budget for "industrial experts". Here was a chance for Uhl to make some extra money --- and help the Countess with the rent. You were, perhaps, waiting to hear the noble reason why this modest, dull man became a spy? The first reason that Alan Furst is the master of World War II espionage fiction is that he has a firm grasp on what actually motivates people. The title of the Chris Hedges book says it all: "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning". Which is, in times of crisis, not profound solidarity with a large cause. More often, it's very urgent and primal stuff. Pornography and prostitution among the lower orders, unlikely romance among the elite. So the driving force of this story is sex --- not a great surprise for those of us who devour Furst's novels, but a certain revelation to readers who are used to Harrison Ford heroes and villains in black hats. In "The Spies of Warsaw", Edvard Uhl isn't the only one with an inflamed libido. His spymaster, the French military attaché Jean-François Mercier, goes to play tennis at the home of titled friends --- and soon finds himself joined in the shower by his hostess, a real princess. Later, the widowed Mercier will meet a lawyer who's living with a writer, and they... but you get the idea. And then there's the historical aspect of Furst's novels. Many writers love France; Furst has internalized it. And although I'd bet he has a list of great Paris restaurants that Pudlo will never review, his deepest knowledge is the run-up to World War II and the first few years of the war. Smart move --- that's the period when Europeans had to make the most important choices of their lives. The genius of this novel is that small people have large effects. Edvard Uhl is a pawn, a minor player. But it turns out that he might be useful in a project of immense importance for the French --- figuring out where Hitler's tanks will attack France. That, in turn, makes Mercier far more high-profile than his title would suggest. And so, at various points in this exactingly plotted novel, the social encounters and minor deceptions do give way to men with guns. The good news: They don't pepper the pages with bullets. Throughout, Furst tosses off such lovely throwaways you might actually want to mark the margins. Americans tend to thi