September 1939. As Warsaw falls to Hitler’s Wehrmacht, Captain Alexander de Milja is recruited by the intelligence service of the Polish underground. His mission: to transport the national gold reserve to safety, hidden on a refugee train to Bucharest. Then, in the back alleys and black-market bistros of Paris, in the tenements of Warsaw, with partizan guerrillas in the frozen forests of the … Ukraine, and at Calais Harbor during an attack by British bombers, de Milja fights in the war of the shadows in a world without rules, a world of danger, treachery, and betrayal. From the Trade Paperback edition.
more
This book was recommended to me, and I will admit that I started it twice. The first time I put it aside because a book about World War II just didn’t capture my imagination. I am so happy I gave it another try. It is now right up there with my top 10 favorite books. The unusual, time stamped sections gave me a sense that I was walking the …
Alan Furst is my writing hero: he writes about obscure people in obscure places doing obscure things to each other in an obscure time, and he makes it fascinating. He owns the 1930s Mitteleuropa spy genre. While I believe he’s written only one true sequel, all his books can be considered part of the same larger story: the dark, messy collision of …
excellent story
picked up the atmosphere of the time
historically accurate
I am an Alan Furst fan and have read all of his novels. I enjoy period pieces, especially of the years surrounding WWII in Europe. His spy novels, except Night Soldiers, which is a more “epic” story, are stories about an “everyman” who is called upon by events to resist and oppose the Nazis – the missions are small events in the overall panoply …
I found it to be complex and sad. I longed for additional character building.
If you like this genre you will like this book. Well written.
Difficult read. Story does flow well.
For me, the book dragged on too much and was difficult to follow. I wouldn’t recommend .
Have read all Alan Furst thrillers. All based in Europe post WW11 a particular genre. Love his writing.
I’m looking forward to reading more of Furst.
The characters, situations and characteristics of the time and place were well described.
As close to what I imagine WW II resistance fighting was actually like.
Unbelievable and too much formula plot and no suspense. Couldn’t really care about care of characters.
Dark,moody,excellent
History, well written
Characters are retalistic
All his books are good
Good WW2 spy novel. From perspective of Polish spy and interactions with various organizations vs the Nazis.
Too slow for me.
Standard Furst but still always fun to read.
If it’s by Alan First, it’s bound to be first-rate. The characters in this book are wonderful, the plot terrific, and I spent some time afterwards reading about Poland during WWII because this book piqued my curiosity.