The Polish Officer: A Novel Reviews

• Intriguing, Authentic Description of Occupied Europe

  
  By A258HDMERSI6WJ on 2004-09-25
  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.
  
  

• Espionage and intrigue in Occupied Europe

  
  By A2B1GZIRD6W646 on 2003-01-21
  Alan Furst has apparently been writing books of this genre for some years now. The plots all take place during the period just prior to World War II, or the during the war itself. Each of the characters is somewhat compromised, morally or otherwise. Here, the main character is Captain Alexander de Milja, a Polish army officer whose main duty, in peacetime, was as a cartographer and intelligence officer. Now that the war has started, he's helping defend Warsaw, but he's soon called away to escort a supply of gold and specie across the border into Romania. From there, his bosses in the military intelligence bureau wish him to spy on the Germans, first in Paris, later in other parts of France and elsewhere. He moves with ease from one theater of the war to another, repeatedly surviving when others around him are captured or killed. He has affairs, makes and loses friends, watches as others are betrayed by traitors, even executes said traitor himself on one occasion.

  The one thing the book does extremely well is portray the lives of ordinary people during the war. The author seems to have a view of the mundane populace of an occupied country, and what they do or say or when they go on vacation. When they spy for de Milja, they do so for mundane reasons, for the most part, and their reactions when they get caught aren't heroic, for the most part, either. The novel is told in a series of grays (if they ever make a movie, it'll have to be black and white) with few if any colors in the landscape.

  If I have a serious criticism, it's that there really isn't a plot. Instead, the story is basically a series of incidents involving a single individual, and if he'd structured it differently it could be a short story collection, plotwise. That's how connected the various plots are.

  In spite of that, I enjoyed it a great deal, and would recommend the book.
  
  

• Another Good Book

  
  By A37F1G84K35FCZ on 2001-12-14
  This is the second book I have read by Mr. Alan Furst. Happily, Random House Publishing is going to backtrack and bring earlier novels by this talented writer to readers. To date, Mr. Furst confines his novels to a relatively brief period of history, from 1933-1945. It is also a period that continues to provide massive amounts of information for historians and writers of historically based fiction. What I particularly liked about this work is that it focused on a Polish Officer, and his work after Poland was attacked and partitioned by Russia and Germany, and then overrun once again by Russia.

  Poland lost 18% of its population during WWII, a higher percentage than any other nation. The damage Poland suffered, and the resistance movement it fought throughout the war is less well known than other stories, and less documented in historically based fiction. Mr. Furst explains at the end of the book the resources that he uses to bring his characters to life. He tells what are true stories or amalgams of true stories about those that never made a great name for themselves, and garnered the fame that accompanied such notoriety. His characters are often those who fought on after their countries had fallen, living a day-to-day existence that often ended in an unmarked grave, or a cellar with its attendant horrors. The risks they took were compounded by the methods they used to fight and survive. They wore no uniform, they had none of the protection, however scant, that a uniform would bring. If they went missing it was noted, and then only for a moment.

  My interest in the topic helped to overcome what shortcomings the book does have. The book begins on a fairly definitive note, and then reads as though the reader is occasionally checking in with Alexander de Milja. Just as he is forced to move from Poland to France, Spain, and then Poland again, and other locations, the book jumps as well. The problem is the reader does not always jump with Alexander, often it seems as if we bump into him by chance. The book is filled with character vignettes, some are so fleeting that they are barely made note of before they are gone. The character of Alexander is fairly well explained and detailed, however even his fate is truncated almost in mid sentence. The book reaches no conclusion, and unless there is to be a sequel, it never will.

  This is not the stronger of the two works I have read, however I will continue to read the books that are to come, for even when the author may not be writing at his best, he is still very, very good.
  
  

• Great Stuff!

  
  By A1RAUVCWYHTQI4 on 2000-08-29
  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.
  
  

• A Diamond Still in the Rough

  
  By A2Y927PCQ6G556 on 2002-09-16
  Overall, The Polish Officer has more to offer than most in its genre. The atmosphere of the novel is really strong: dark, gritty, forboding. Furst's expert knowledge of the day-to-day affairs of WWII Europe is first-rate, and adds to the realism.

  Beyond that, there were several problems that I found distracting. The main character, deMilja, always seems remote and detached from the reader. I never got a sense of his personality and found myself struggling to stay interested in him.

  The book is not a thriller, per se, but there were moments that attempted to be tense. In the execution, however, the tension deflated way too early and I never found myself on the edge of my seat.

  Alan Furst has enormous potential, and I'm told that his later novels are much better--that he comes into his own as a writer. One can see his potential in the Polish Officer, which would make a great film: that medium might more effectively capture the emotion, depth of character, and tension that is lacking in the novel.
  
  

• A Unique Perspective on World War II
  By AH00UCJMV2Z9L on 2004-04-04
  "The Polish Officer" offers American readers a new slant on World War II: the perspective of life inside occupied Europe, with no American characters coming to the rescue. Instead, "The Polish Officer" is peopled by displaced persons, former military officers, and bandits, all drawn into a seemingly hopeless resistance to the occupying Nazi and Soviet forces in Poland, Russia, and France. That Furst is able to create a story from this world that is appealing to American readers speaks to his prowess as a writer. This is a beautifully-written book, although a bit weak on plot. However, since the book ends early in the war, it left me wondering how the central character made out.
  
  
• A True Work of Literature
  By A2KN89AD9G1NNX on 2001-02-04
  Critics have for years blathered on about such mediocrities as Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, and John Le Carre blurring the line between literature and genre fiction, but none of them comes close to Alan Furst.

  His characters are fully-realized people caught in circumstances beyond their capabilities to understand or control. Their pretentions, their inner lives, and their wholly unspecteted courage is the point of his novels, of which, the Polish Officer is the best.

  Furst is an elegent aphoristic writer - James Salter comes to mind as his model - and his work in imbued with a deep mood of fatalism, weltschmerz, and sexual heat as redemption for the displaced souls these books.
  
  

• Perfect balance of character and history
  By on 2003-04-30
  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.
  
  
• entertaining but not outstanding
  By on 1996-07-31
  If you haven't read Furst's Dark Star or Night Soldier, then Polish Officer will be enjoyable. But those of us who have read the latter books , especially Dark Star have missed the shadows, pathos and passions Furst achieved in those books. The characters especially the main ones in Dark Star were discribed so specifically that as you proceed in each story the reader can contemplate the character's view of the situation. It is not so in Polish Officer. The main character while well articulated is surrounded with bare images of friends and foes. My disappoint in Polish Officer is also brought about by my deep appreciate for Dark Star - which I believe is one of the finest pieces of fiction written in the last decade. Further, there is a polish officer discribed in Dark Star with such clarity and style and he is not the same character that haunts this Polish Officer
  
  
• Period Piece = Palpable
  By AP5NXS66INNOB on 2002-09-17
  Alan Furst's series of novels set in 1933-1941 Europe are fantastic on a number of levels: the noir tone of the book, the palpable dread that overlays the whole time period, the complex relationships among people of various nationalities in a highly fragmented continent.

  The Polish Officer begins very ambitiously as the protagonist seeks to smuggle Poland's gold supply out of the country in September 1939; the daring exploits result from desperation, necessity, despair, honor, patriotism. The settings are well-drawn and the politics well-researched.

  This is a period piece. Furst brings you to the time and place of the action with his writing. It is honest, gritty, and real. The book is not a single narrative, it is episodic -- like intertwined short stories or novellas. Thus the intensity can wax and wane. Nonetheless, if you are interested in the 1933-1941 time frame, espionage, Eastern Europeans under the shadow of war or all of the above, this is fine literature and highly recommended.
  
  

• Ignoble aspects of WW2
  By A39AWL2FKWDFK6 on 2004-12-07
  Alan Furst's "The Polish Officer" is a seamy portrayal of the untoward and often untold facets of World War 2. The story revolves around the exploits of fictious character the patriotic Capt. Alexander de Milja of the Polish military.
  
  De Milja, a cartographer in the intelligence services is a product of the union of a university professor and a daughter in an aristoctratic family. He miraculously survived the destruction of Warsaw, courtesy of the Nazi blitzkrieg. He was given a choice by his superiors to serve on the front line and face certain death or serve as a spy. Choosing espionage, his initial mission was to direct the tranportation of the Polish treasury, 12 million in gold bars, to Romania.
  
  The book proceeds to follow de Milja through Poland, France and the Ukraine as he directs a spy network designed to undermine the hated Nazis. Furst succeeds in humanizing his characters including the Germans as he graphically recreates the terror and horrors of this clandestine aspect of war. He concludes his novel somewhat abruptly with no salvation for de Milja but with hope that he might persevere and survive.
  
  
• An Excellent Read!
  By AZV6OGQRNDLOT on 2000-03-16
  I have to disagree somewhat with the two other customer reviews. I found the main character well developed. I found de Milja to be both believable and likeable. The parts of the book set in Poland are outstanding in the author's ability to re-create the atmosphere of the Nazi occupation. I do agree that Dark Star and Night Soldiers are probably better novels, however The Polish Officer is still far superior to most current fiction. I highly recommend this to anyone!
  
  
• More than a Spy Story
  By A21VR7M8O55EF6 on 2003-02-21
  The protagonist of this WW II spy novel is Captain de Milja, a Polish officer who is recruited as part of the Polish underground resistance following the fall of Warsaw to the Nazis in 1939. De Milja is a man of few words, perceptive, hard, unafraid of danger, and able to adjust to new situations. He also has no difficulty in attracting women and has several lovers, of varying duration, to accompany him through his adventures. His wife, to whom he is devoted, dies midway through the book.

  This novel tells the stories of de Milja's experiences as a spy in Warsaw, Paris and the Ukraine. It is episodic in character with each unit of the story essentially self-contained. The writing is fast-paced and hard-boiled as befitting a spy story. There were times when I thought the story flagged and lost my interest.

  Alan Furst knows has subject matter and depicts well the fall of Warsaw and Paris and the activities of the Partisans in the Ukraine. The Nazi's failed invasions of Britain and the U.S.S.R. form the backdrop of the book and they are well-conveyed. I found the middle sections of the book the most interesting with good depictions of people and places, particularly low life in Paris.

  The book is good to read because of the perspective it brings to WW II which is both unusual and realistic. The book is somewhat more than a spy novel due to Furst's attempt to develop and show growth in the character of his hero. This development occurs in the final section of the book which explores the confusing world of conflicting partisan resistance movements in the Ukraine. Oddly enough, the plotting and spying in this section are, to me, the weakest in the book.

  De Milja changes in this way. In the prior sections of the story, Furst establishes him as a lover and a ladies man. There are occasions when De Milja takes a mistress in part to save his cover and many other occasions where he takes a lover only because he wants to do so. The connection between spying and amorous activities is an established one. There are tensions and risks in this line of work, and surely a feeling that one must enjoy what one can.

  In the final chapter of the book, de Milja meets a young woman refuge named Sasha. She is not particularly beautiful or talented, but she is fleeing for her life, she is vulnerable, and she is available. De Milja saves her life, through great peril. Sasha lets it be known that she would be willing to, perhaps even interested in, sex with De Milja as they weave their way through danger.

  Furst makes a great deal of de Milja not availaing himself of this opportunity. (Even though de Milja and Sasha need to bundle together in a car to keep warm at night.) I think this shows a development in de Milja's character from the rather free-wheeling womanizer he is in the earlier sections of the book. It also shows that he has developed some sense of looking at his female companion as an individual rather than as a pawn in a global game of war. I think we are meant to see de Milja as developing a quality of compassion in this portion of the story and a sense of connectedness to another person. He is willing to forgo sex, even when it is offered, welcome, and not even illicit in order to bring Sasha and himself to safety. It is buried in lots of war detail and not really prepared for during the body of the novel, but Furst shows development in the character of his hero.

  This is why the book is slightly more than a spy story.
  
  

• Tremendous perspective on Nazis and Culture
  By A2ARPCORF2YQ1M on 2004-08-10
  How did this gang of thugs and murderers gain and retain power? Alan Furst uses the personal tragedies and triumphs of his many fascinating, well-researched characters to illustrate and confirm what anyone who studies politics must know; that governments often behave out of callow self-interest and that there is always an underclass of bitter, jealous and often violence-prone individuals willing to perpertrate any crime to succeed in their ambitions. Fortunately (for reasons they often don't themselves fully understand) there are also those who risk all to combat these forces; they comprise the heroic characters in Furst's novels.
  I had family in the Resistance. In Denmark, Morocco and France they did what they could against the German tyranny and its collaborators. Their recollections seem to me so alike to the writing in these fine books, which illustate so well how ordinary, often frightened people can help to accomplish the impossible. Mr. Furst, may you live long and continue to enthrall and educate new generations as to why and how the civilized must combat tyranny at every hand, no matter what the price.
  
  
• Furst on Fast
  By A22FV8OUW7DPU8 on 2001-09-02
  I've been following Alan Furst's career since the early 90s, when I first heard a review of Dark Star on NPR. I still feel that Night Soldiers and Dark Star are the best novels he's written -- in equal parts because they are the longest and he took the most time with them (he was, I believe still a journalist when he wrote them), and also because he was still living in Europe when he wrote them, and the atmospherics, the remarkable attention to the details of place, light, sound, and smell, seem somehow more real and spontaneous than in the later novels. But in any case I'm delighted that Furst hasn't stood still -- that he keeps working his formulae in different ways, and particularly at different speeds. The Polish Officer is the fastest paced Furst novel so far. But though as a result it loses some of the smoky "film noir" atmosphere for which the earlier novels are rightly admired, and acquires the somewhat contrived pacing of a Steven Spielberg movie instead, both the individual episodes and the overall effect are so well done that -- if nothing else -- it's impossible not to admire the extraordinary craftsmanship. For example, The Polish Officer contains what may be the best single episode of any of Furst's novels -- as the Paris Gestapo officers play cat and mouse with the operator of a clandestine radio transmitting from Montmartre. Again, such a perfect crescendo of tension, with nothing wasted or misplaced, that it resembles nothing so much as Steven Spielberg at his best. Interestingly, after the Polish Officer, the only thing left to do, except repeat himself note for note and beat for beat, was to slow the pace down dramatically and to write with less focus on plot and more on character, which is what he did with the paired novels, The World at Night and Red Gold.
  The Polish Officer is not the best Furst Novel -- a title deserved equally (though for different reasons) by Dark Star and the most recent one, Kingdom of Shadows -- but I've still awarded it five stars for being expert and audacious at the same time. This is remarkable writing by any standard. Enjoy the ride -- just be aware that it's a fast one.
  
  
• So Close, Yet So Far...
  By A2XY3HMVMS4FW7 on 2002-02-13
  I'll applaud Mr. Furst for capturing our imagination with a story that focuses on lesser known figures, nations and peoples of World War II. Exotic characters really seem to suit the shady, mysterious world of espionage, and the author does an excellent job with this aspect. Also, the book occasionally creates moods and scenes that really recapture the dark hours of the War (the lone German motorcyclist on the empty streets of Paris is one such moment), and that alone makes this book worth the read.

  However.... I think Mr. Furst attempts too much within his painfully plodding writing style. From cover to cover, the book is frugal with words to such an extent that it's difficult to follow the story of the characters unless you are really paying attention. And I would guess that most readers, myself included, will find this a challenge because it's hard to care about characters when the author gives you the absolute minimum about them. Dialogue, or at least real interactive dialogue is at a minimum throughout this book, so much so that it's reasonable to wonder whether De Milja has a pulse in some sections. Does he ever really talk with anybody? Even with fellow ex-pats who know he's a spy, De Milja doesn't ever appear to talk about anything of believable (read: human) substance.

  Rather, like most of the characters, De Milja "functions" from day to day, just doing his job because there's not much else to do. I can see that the writing that helps us establish this "functional-only" window might be a good attempt to recapture the hovering gloom of the times, but I dare you to really care about anyone in this book. From page one, I suspected that the obvious protagonist in the book would survive, and at no point during the reading did I feel that this was in any doubt. Never. The book simply isn't set up to make readers believe that De Milja stands a real chance of perishing. In a word, the good guys are destined to win, and the bad guys are destined to lose; hard to believe this was the case within the reality of 1940-2 Western Europe.

  Call me crazy, but I would think that espionage would have many more close runs with the authorities, and ones that might, if only momentarily, shake the confidence of those in the spy world. If this window of self-reflection happens to De Milja, our-cartographer-turned-spy, the readers aren't privvy to it, and that really makes it hard to believe that De Milja is human. And that hurts this book; it makes the characters seem contrived and the story pre-scripted.
  
  

• Intriguing Failure
  By A1NC9AGZOBI0M1 on 2005-04-30
  "The Polish Officer" is an intriguing espionage thriller that fails to deliver. The reader follows the adventures of Captain Alexander de Milja through various disguises and countries in the early years of WWII. While Furst's novel is well-written stylistically, and evokes the time period with great authority, the story that surrounds these details falls far too flat.
  
  The adventures of de Milja are many; as Warsaw is falling into Hitler's power, he is recruited by the Polish underground through which he carries out numerous sabotage missions. The first section of the novel does grab the reader's attention - de Milja sneaks the national gold reserve out of Poland, on a train carrying unwitting passengers to saftey through a war-torn country. Yet Furst throws too many characters, who do not add to the story, into the mix. And as de Milja moves from job to job, from personality to personality, the reader is not always brought along: it is as if one were beginning a new book with each new personality, for there is little tie between any of the main character's exploits except his thoughts.
  
  "The Polish Officer" reads as if it were trying, desperately, to be a great work of literature. Furst seems to be follwing a formula card of what "seemed inevitable" when it comes to writing spy thrillers. The story takes expected turns, offering little original in the way of plotting. De Milja always succeeds, no matter what the obstacle, while others around him fall. On the whole, the novel achieves high style; Furst is a talented writer, just perhaps not the best storyteller.
  
  
• One of many great Furst novels!
  By A6FVDV0SGMVD2 on 2005-08-31
  Last Winter, this novel was my first introduction to Alan Furst's writing and I have become one of his "incurably addicted" fans! It is also thee one novel that I have bought and given to *many* friends, acquaintances and almost complete strangers, whom I suspected might enjoy his books too.
  
  Altho, I consider "Dark Star" thee absolute best Furst novel - in depth of intellect, breadth of social history and intensity of emotions - "Polish Officer" is still a good introduction to get some WW2 basics. A lot of it was "everything I wanted to know about WW2 but never learned in school" and gleaned effortlessly thru reading the novel.
  
  
• Espionage and Resistance in Wartorn Europe
  By A260X99UW6HA9Z on 2006-04-08
  "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.
  
  
  
• A Trip To Bleakest Europe
  By A3KNGA5WIECM5V on 2006-10-16
  "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.
  
  
  
• Haunting Novel
  By A36UNF17HHTGO on 2001-12-07
  This was the best novel I've read this year, including a wide range of genres. Lucid prose, memorable images, and fascinating characters and situations: what more could you want? Several reviews have noted the episodic character of the plot, but I didn't mind that a bit; if anything, it added to the impression of chaos in a country disintegrating under invasion. This was my first Furst but won't be my last.
  
  
• I loved it
  By on 2000-08-28
  I think Alan Furst writes singularly enjoyable mystery/thrillers. The Polish officer is a very believable look at the travails of a WW2 spy. He gives you a real feel for the constant pressure of living under cover, and in my view, does a great job of characterization. My only quibble with the book (and what keeps it from receiving 5 stars, is that it just sort of dribbles to a close. In my opinion, there's not enough of a real end to the book to make it satisfying for me. Nevertheless, I think that if you like WW2-era spy novels, you'll really like this one.
  
  
• A little disappointing
  By on 2001-06-26
  Furst is very good at depicting historical situations (occupied Poland, Paris under German authority...). However, that does not save the book. The plot is weak, based on three different and unrelated threads. Also Furst did not create a persona for his hero. In spite of all this, the book is entertaining and clearly above average.
  
  
• Another excellent "spy" novel
  By A3PGGI7A6XCNF1 on 2001-11-05
  Alan Furst has the great talent of reinvigorating the "spy" novel genre. He creates atmospheric works, and places his well-drawn characters into the middle of the World War II murkiness of intelligence gathering and action. His main characters tend to be introspective, moody fellows, with women to match, and a cast of finely sketched and fleshed-out minor players. We're involved in the tangled mess of central Europe during the dark days of Nazi occupation, and we seem to move effortlessly from there into Paris and the French and Belgian countryside. These books are intelligently written, and create the wish that the stories would go on long after the book is finished.
  
  
• good but slow
  By A1W4LS4UHH63W3 on 2004-02-04
  Poetic, beautifully written, but much more dependant on atmosphere than character development. Not a whole lot of action or dialogue. Still good though.
  
  
• Fantastic
  By A1RO1C6903WCIC on 2006-05-23
  The Polish Officer was the first of Alan Furst's books I read, and I instantly became infatuated. Absolutely immersive, suspensful, enthralling. His writing never insults your intelligence. This book (as well as his others) don't just simply appeal to consumers of WWII history or espionage fiction; Furst's work captures those who love reading about the human struggle in the face of impossible odds. The Polish Officer is one of his best. My highest recommendation.
  
  
• "As you get older, you accept venality. Then you learn to like it - a certainty in an uncertain world."
  By A37GRFP6VMUXKT on 2008-02-27
  
  Alan Furst follows a formula that has proven so successful for him. A more or less ordinary man finds himself in the midst of World War Two. In these extraordinary conditions, the ordinary man finds himself capable of surprising acts of courage and even heroism. `The Polish Officer' opens with the German invasion of Warsaw and within a few hours Captain Alexander de Milja, a cartographer by profession, is recruited into the Polish resistance's intelligence service.
  
  Many of the characters occupying Furst's novels are not so devoted to the good fight as de Milja or Jean Casson (Red Gold and World at Night). As one of de Milja's compatriots says, "As you get older, you accept venality. Then you learn to like it - a certainty in an uncertain world." Furst excels at giving the reader a feel for what it might have been like to risk betrayal to the SS in every hour of the day.
  
  Furst always does his homework when he writes what he calls his `historical spy novels' and it shows. The details provide the sense of verisimilitude that makes his books so enjoyable. His characters are always interesting and often multi-dimensional. My only gripe with `The Polish Officer' is that de Milja moves swiftly across Europe serving in at least four separate major undertakings in four different locations. That seems like an unlikely set of circumstances. It is a minor quibble because each episode can stand on its own merit once de Milja's back story is established in the opening pages.
  
  An excellent read for fans of the spy genre, which has produced a surprisingly long line of excellent writers. Alan Furst's name belongs aside Eric Ambler, Graham Greene, John LeCarre, Charles McCarry, and Robert Littell.
  
  
  
• what's the fuss about here?
  By on 2001-04-05
  furst is overrated, but still...it's better than any airport/wallgreen's 'spy novel'...very close to lecarre...BUT unlike sir john, there is no real character here...in 'the honorable schoolboy', you actually cry for the hero spy who lives undercover...in this book, i had no idea why he put himself at such risk for so many different factions...no depth...but that said, a totally relaitsic (from what i understand) portrait of occupied poland and paris.
  
  
• World War II from a Different Vantage Point
  By AH00UCJMV2Z9L on 2004-04-02
  "The Polish Officer" offers American readers a new slant on World War II: the perspective of life inside occupied Europe, with no American characters coming to the rescue. Instead, "The Polish Officer" is peopled by displaced persons, former military officers, and bandits, all drawn into a seemingly hopeless resistance to the occupying (...)Soviet forces in Poland, Russia, and France. That Furst is able to create a story from this world that is appealing to American readers speaks to his prowess as a writer. This is a beautifully-written book, although a bit weak on plot. However, since the book ends early in the war, it left me wondering how the central character made out.
  
  
• The Agony of War
  By A3QS5UYAGHF4IU on 2006-05-07
  Like all the Furst books I've read, the real story here is the impact the war has on everyday people. The actions of the protagonist, Captain De Milja, seem to bring the story of these people into greater contrast. The battle scenes in Furst's books are emotional ones -- how the people are dealing with the oppressive occupation by the Nazis. De Milja is a credible hero and Furst's ability to convey the mood of the times is uncanny. When I came to the end of this book, I felt that I had just come home from World War II. Furst really weaves a spell. I intend to read all his books.
  
  

• Night Soldiers: A Novel
• Dark Star: A Novel
• The Foreign Correspondent: A Novel
• The World at Night: A Novel
• Red Gold: A Novel