The Polish Officer

by Alan Furst

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067941312X
• ISBN13: 9780679413127
• Release Date: February 1995
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 325 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

not one of Furst's best novels

This book was boring and at times hard to track. deMeja went from one assignment to another as he bounced around Europe. It does show how tedious spying could be. De Meja was no "James Bond" I got through this book but will not reread it again.

A Trip To Bleakest Europe

"Poland had lost a war, this is what was left." Alan Furst's third novel begins in the bleakest corner of war-ravaged Europe where Poles waited, in vain, for British and French help that would not come. As demonstrated by "Night Soldiers" and "Dark Star," Furst is unmatched when it comes to describing wartime Europe in a detail so fine that the time and place seem to come alive. So, we are not just told that Poland was left to freeze as its coal was shipped off to Germany, Furst writes that "there was ice in Captain de Milja's basement room; a rust-colored stalactite that hung from a connection in the water pipe that ran across his ceiling." But as the story moves from Warsaw, to Bucharest, to Paris, Furst shows us a different war. The contrast Furst draws between a craven France and a fighting Poland is stark. France may be occupied, but the French in this book (with certain exceptions) are overwhelmingly compromised and cowardly -- and, in return, live better than the hopeless Poles. This novel is shorter than "Dark Star," and is less dense. Rather than layering complex story lines, Furst moves "The Polish Officer," Alexander de Miljia, through a series of missions in occupied Europe and Russia. This approach does not make the novel any less satisfying. The story of the "Pilava Local," the last passenger train through Poland, is harrowing. The missions against the Gestapo are awe-inspiring. The activity in occupied France -- assisted (finally) by the British -- are also absorbing. If there is any criticism of this novel, it is that the story flags a bit at the end, when de Miljia reaches the western USSR, and it ends on a note that is somewhat more hopeful than events warrant. Nonetheless, the story is riveting overall. A fine entry in Furst's series.

Espionage and Resistance in Wartorn Europe

"The Polish Officer" details the adventures of Captain Alexander de Milja, who survives his nation's defeat in 1939 and moves onto resist the Nazi juggernaut as a spy working with the allied powers. De Milja helps smuggle gold, and eventually makes his way to the Ukraine as Nazi Germany attacks the Soviet Union. As usual, Fust has created an excellent novel of espionage and action set amidst upheaval and tension- this time dealing directly with the events of World War Two, rather than the interwar years common to many of his other novels. Although this novel can easily be read as a stand-alone book, some readers will enjoy beginning their foray into Furst's world with "Night Soldiers", his original and possibly best spy novel. This book introduces several characters who make appearances throughout Furst's other novels set in the same period of time and general geographical local. Because of this fact, I highly recommend reading this novel first, although those that follow can typically be read in any particular order (the exception being the stories involving Jean Casson - World at Night and Red Gold). What makes Furst's loosely structured series so compelling is that 1; they are very well researched and historical very accurate, especially with regard to spy craft - as I understand it through academic experience only. 2; the characters are extremely flawed, very believable and interesting to empathize with - all of the characters and their adventures provoke much thought. 3; the novels do not attempt to achieve a false sense of conclusion at their end - they always allow the reader to decide for him/herself what happens, and they rarely resolve the feeling of tension that pervades Furst's works. 4; the secondary characters are always very well developed and much more interesting than their sometimes small roles would have the reader believe- so one is always off balance (who will live, who will die - who can be trusted, who cannot?). 5; Furst does an excellent job of setting the atmosphere of terror that resulted from the conflict between fascism and stalinism during the secret wars preceding the outbreak of the Second World War. You cannot go wrong with this novel. For anyone interested in reading and enjoying spy stories, or stories of world war two, this book is a must read.

Intriguing, Authentic Description of Occupied Europe

The reader new to Alan Furst may not immediately recognize that the plot is subordinate to the setting and character development. The Polish Officer, like his other novels, ends somewhat abruptly; the war continues unabated and the fate of his protagonist remains unresolved. Furst sees WWII as a large canvas. This novel, a detailed painting by Alan Furst, only covers a minute spot. Poland is under coordinated attacks by Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. The story begins as Captain Alexander de Milja is assigned the task of transporting by train Poland's national gold reserves to a location out of reach of Hitler's forces. Not much later, despite fierce fighting by Polish forces, Poland is overwhelmed and de Milja joins the Polish resistance. The setting moves from Poland to Romania to France to the Ukraine as de Milja's situation becomes increasingly insecure. The Polish officer himself no longer has rank, nor an army, nor a country. He does not expect to survive. Furst's novels excel in two regards: their historical settings are authentic while simultaneously the stories provide unexpected, even unique, perspectives on WWII. In this story we readers experience life from inside an occupied Poland, inside an intimidated Romania, within a surrendered France, and in a brutalized Ukraine. His plots are suspenseful and well-crafted, and yet I recall his stories more for their detailed settings. It is unlikely that I will forget Furst's description of occupied Europe. The WWII historical novels of Alan Furst offer a richness and authenticity seldom encountered. I highly recommend The Polish Officer. It is among his finest works and is a great introduction to a remarkable author.

Perfect balance of character and history

This novel--the third in Furst's series of historical espionage thrillers--represents a significant shift in the author's style and approach to his material. Fine as the previous two (_Night Soldiers_ and _Dark Star_) are, their main characters often dissolve into the epic sweep of history as Furst moves them throughout Europe, striving to make them represent all of wartime experience. In _The Polish Officer_ Furst tightens his focus, taking his protagonist from the fall of Poland in 1939 to the end of the first push of the Russian Campaign in late 1942. In doing so Furst more effectively represents the experience of the spy--the constant terror, the uncertaintly, the ceaseless struggle with despair. Furst also boils his prose and plotting down to bare essentials. The result is a taut, exciting, and moving story of one man's effort to serve a country that effectively does not exist. A great read.

Great Stuff!

Short on plot, this book follows the title character as he leaves his normal life as an army cartographer behind to become a spy and resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Europe. The book unfolds in a series of acts, starting with his unit's dissolution in late 1939 and his subsequent underground work in Poland. The bulk of the book then describes his work in occupied France before a final brief action in Ukraine. Furst is outstanding at portraying individual assignments and actions, making them come alive with outstanding period detail. Wisely, he doesn't try too hard to link the various acts into a larger story, other than that of the title character. The ending is left open for continuation, which might bother some readers, but seemed to me highly appropriate. Furst's description of spycraft, and life behind the lines is highly entertaining and informative, and I'll definitely be looking for other of his books. If you like Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy, you'll probably dig this.