Night Soldiers: A Novel [Paperback]

Alan Furst (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 9, 2002

Bulgaria, 1934. A young man is murdered by the local fascists. His brother, Khristo Stoianev, is recruited into the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence service, and sent to Spain to serve in its civil war. Warned that he is about to become a victim of Stalin’s purges, Khristo flees to Paris. Night Soldiers masterfully re-creates
the European world of 1934–45: the struggle between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia for Eastern Europe, the last desperate gaiety of the beau monde in 1937 Paris, and guerrilla operations with the French underground in 1944. Night Soldiers is a scrupulously researched panoramic novel, a work on a grand scale.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The father of a boy murdered by fascists in a small town in Bulgaria in 1934 embraces Communism and becomes an agent for the Soviets, who assign him to Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War. "Furst shows a remarkable talent in his fifth novel, integrating details about the cultures of Spain, France and Eastern Europe with a fascinating story," PW declared .
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A young Bulgarian, Khristo, is recruited into an elite unit of the Soviet espionage network. Bloodied and betrayed in the Spanish Civil War, he seeks oblivion in Paris but soon leads fresh sorties, this time against his Red spymasters. As World War II closes in, secret contacts among those who trained together makes it possible for most of them to evade the revenge of their former Russian overlords and eventually find their way to well-deserved refuge. An engaging writer and Esquire contributor, Furst deploys communists, fascists, and American naifs in Europe's theater of war and supports the action and romance with well-researched detail. Barbara Conaty, Library of Congress
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Reprint edition (July 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375760008
• ISBN-13: 978-0375760006
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (124 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Furst is widely recognized as the master of the historical spy novel. Now translated into seventeen languages, he is the bestselling author of Night Soldiers, Dark Star, The Polish Officer, The World at Night, Red Gold, Kingdom of Shadows, Blood of Victory, Dark Voyage, and The Foreign Correspondent Born in New York, he now lives in Paris and on Long Island.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

153 of 155 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The beginning of a first-rate sequence of espionage novels February 25, 2001

By Bruce Trinque TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

With "Night Soldiers", Alan Furst began a sequence of espionage novels set in the Europe of the late 1930's and early 1940's. Note that I said "sequence" and not "series". Only two of the six novels published thus far feature the same hero, but all are connected by time and place and the recurrence of certain secondary characters who step from the shadows in various books. Although, perhaps there really is one constant, recurring central character -- the city of Paris. Inevitably, Furst's heroes sooner or later pass through Paris.

Alan Furst's greatest skill perhaps lies in his ability to create an all-pervasive sense of Europe caught between the terrors of facism and Stalinism. "Night Soldiers" takes us from Bulgaria to the Soviet Union to Civil War Spain to France to Eastern Europe again. Mostly the story is seen through the eyes of Khristo Stoianev, initially a Bulgarian lad recruited into the Soviet NKVD, eventually a spy, a criminal, and a partisan. The emphasis is not on spy-thriller type "action" (although "Night Soldiers" does contain a healthy dose) as much as it is on covert operational technique (for which Furst's work deserves very high marks for authenticity). It may be that the book is a little overly ambitious, with Stoianev becoming ensnarled into an improbably broad range of events in several countries, but it provides an absorbing portrait of a continent gone mad.

77 of 81 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, engaging read! January 1, 2003

By Curtis Grindahl

Format:Paperback

Night Soldiers is one of Alan Furst's longer novels, a fact that was most pleasing to me as I was carried along by the compelling story. I encountered him a few years ago in my never ending search for new authors of espionage/intrigue stories and have read all but his most recent novel. Reading other reviews I'm reminded that Mr. Furst approaches this genre much as Eric Ambler did, taking ordinary people and putting them in extraordinary circumstances. But as much as I've enjoyed Mr. Ambler's work, I find Alan Furst's writing more nuanced. He exhibits the skill of the finest writers in his evocation of place. I was transported over and over again into the world he created with his words. I appreciate the fact he brings his readers into locales not often explored in this genre. We visit Bulgaria and Spain in this book and Hungary/Poland in the Polish Officer. And his presentation of pre-war Paris is magical. As a student of history I am especially fond of writers who give me a grounded experience of both time and place. Alan Furst does both extremely well. If you haven't read him, do. If you have, you surely need no encouragement to read more. (If you like Alan Furst, you might want to check out Robert Littell whose most recent book is Company - a Novel of the CIA.)

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Atmospheric thriller for all who enjoy spy novels... April 16, 2003

By Andrew Mendelssohn

Format:Paperback

For those of you unfamiliar with Alan Furst, he currently writes espionage thrillers set in Europe between the mid-1930's thru WWII. I say currently because Furst did write some earlier novels unrelated to this, but most people know him for his WWII era spy novels, of which Night Soldiers is the first.
Another feature of Furst's novels is that no matter where they start or end, all of the books wander thru Paris at one time or another... and not just the City of Lights and Romance, but the dark underside of Paris also. Furst also likes the have some consistency between his later books, so usually there will be one character who will apppear again in another book, perhaps with a different face...
Night Soldiers is the story of Khristo Stoianev. The story begins in Bulgaria of the 1930's. Khristo has the misfortune of watching his brother killed by local fascists. After this, he himself is marked and so it is with some convenience that a Soviet agent recruits him to go to the Soviet Union. Khristo undergoes training at a KGB school for foreigners, and makes contacts that will follow him through the book. He also has early exposure to the mindless horror of the purges...
From the Soviet Union Khristo goes to Spain... and from Spain to Furst's stylized pre-war Paris. Unfortunately, to say more would be to spoil too much of the plot. Khristo's story wanders through WWII: the plot twists, turns, and is sometimes a little farfetched but is always exceptionally well written, atmospheric and engaging. Furst occasionally will make a small historical error but its never enough to interfere with enjoying the read.
I've read all of Furst's WWII books, and Night Soldiers was my absolute favorite. I was tempted to give it a four stars because of few small historical errors but I'll stick with five! Don't take the history as absolute gospel but enjoy the book as you would a few hours watching Casablanca. It really is the same type of experience.