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The Polish Officer: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author) "IN POLAND, ON THE NIGHT OF 11 SEPTEMBER 1939, WEHRMACHT scout and commando units-elements of Kuechler's Third Army Corps-moved silently around the defenses of Novy..." (more)
Key Phrases: yard supervisor, panzer tanks, Freddi Schoen, Sixth Bureau, Madame Roubier (more...)

4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With clear, reticent prose and his trademark mastery of historical detail, Furst (Shadow Trade; Night Soldiers) brings vividly to life this WWII-era tale of espionage and bravery, chronicling the work of the Polish underground in Poland, France and the Ukraine. As Warsaw is falling in 1939, Polish Captain Alexander de Milja embarks on a harrowing journey to smuggle the national gold reserves out of the country by rail-the first of many death-defying missions he will undertake for the nascent ZWZ, the Union for Armed Struggle. Under a series of false identities, mingling with the bon vivants of occupied Paris, he later becomes a prized intelligence resource in France, surviving by cunning and passing valuable strategic information to the British. In the novel's final section, de Milja is in even more danger, working as a saboteur based in a Ukrainian forest as the Germans march east. Throughout these dramatic events, Furst's understated narrative is insightful and convincing. The unassuming de Milja-who considers himself merely "unafraid to die, and lucky so far"-proves an engaging protagonist. His exploits and the courageous sacrifices of the ordinary patriots who help him are both thrilling and at times inspiring.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Capt. Alexander de Milja is a chameleon. A cartographer by profession, de Milja works as an intelligence officer in the Polish underground at the outset of World War II. When the Germans discover de Milja's identity in Poland, he goes to France and later Russia to continue his work. De Milja's disguises are many-he passes as a Russian writer, a Czech coal merchant, and a Polish horse breeder-and he embraces each persona completely as he goes about the business of espionage and sabotage. De Milja comes across as a genuine individual who, in his weaker moments, grapples with his desire to give up the fight. This well-written, realistic novel by the author of A Distant War (LJ 10/1/94) paints a vivid picture of the grayness and despair of the German occupation. Recommended for larger public libraries.
--Maria A. Perez-Stable, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (October 9, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375758275
ISBN-13: 978-0375758270
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,813 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
IN POLAND, ON THE NIGHT OF 11 SEPTEMBER 1939, WEHRMACHT scout and commando units-elements of Kuechler's Third Army Corps-moved silently around the defenses of Novy Dvor, crossed the Vistula over the partly demolished Jablonka Bridge, and attempted to capture the Warsaw Telephone Exchange at the northern edge of the city. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
yard supervisor, panzer tanks

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Freddi Schoen, Sixth Bureau, Madame Roubier, Captain de Milja, Genya Beilis, Colonel Broza, Madame Kuester, Anton Stein, Mademoiselle Herault, Captain Alexander de Milja, Malacca Princess, Colonel Vyborg, General Fedin, Brest Litovsk, Mildred Green, Szucha Avenue, Brasserie Heininger, Major Olenik, Royal Navy, Sergeant Krewinski, Traudl von Behr, Zamkova Street, Boris Lezhev, Dimek Street, East Prussia

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 11 books:

Dark Star: A Novel by Alan Furst in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Night Soldiers: A Novel by Alan Furst in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Red Gold: A Novel by Alan Furst in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Goodbye to Berlin by Christoph Isherwood in Back Matter

See all 11 books this book cites

13 books cite this book:

Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst in Front Matter (1), Front Matter (2), and Back Matter
Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass in Front Matter, page 11, and page 165
Red Gold: A Novel by Alan Furst in Front Matter, and Back Matter
The World at Night: A Novel by Alan Furst in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Dark Star: A Novel by Alan Furst in Front Matter, and Back Matter

See all 13 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	68% buy the item featured on this page: The Polish Officer: A Novel 4.1 out of 5 stars (54) $10.04
	10% buy The Spies of Warsaw: A Novel 4.0 out of 5 stars (88) $10.20
	8% buy Dark Star: A Novel 4.4 out of 5 stars (54) $10.17
	8% buy Night Soldiers: A Novel 4.3 out of 5 stars (65) $10.20

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Customer Reviews

54 Reviews

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (54 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, Authentic Description of Occupied Europe, September 25, 2004

By	Michael Wischmeyer (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

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.

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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Espionage and intrigue in Occupied Europe, January 20, 2003

By	David W. Nicholas (Montrose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

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.

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Diamond Still in the Rough, September 16, 2002

By	BP (Herndon, VA USA) - See all my reviews

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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for its genre, with limitations
We probably read Furst for his evocation of pre-war and early war Europe, the smoky train stations and cafes where spies and refugees and black marketers play out their tragedies... Read more

Published 27 days ago by Stephen Sossaman

5.0 out of 5 stars Wartime suspense and romance.
A most interesting novel about a time when the world was very different. There is a good amount of history as a basis for the work and the story line is skillfully intertwined... Read more

Published 3 months ago by A. B. Perchorowicz

5.0 out of 5 stars A Defeated Nation; An Undeafeated Heart
Alan Furst's "The Polish Officer" is a beautiful story of war and resistance, spies and saboteurs, love and indifference. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Cody Carlson

5.0 out of 5 stars A"real" book
I read a lot of books. Mostly mystery. This book has a mixture of time specific history as well as mystery. I found it interesting, and suspenseful.

Published 8 months ago by Steve D. Rubinstein

4.0 out of 5 stars best protagonist
I've read almost all of Furst's books and I would call "The Polish Officer" one of his best. Scanning reviews I'm a little surprised that "Night Soldiers" and "Dark Star" rate so... Read more

Published 10 months ago by B. Teague

2.0 out of 5 stars Good effort but flawed
Like most who have read Alan Furst's books I was captivated by his prose and his character development. Read more

Published 11 months ago by Dave

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Furst
If you've read other Alan Furst novels you know what you are in for. If you haven't , I think you will either love or hate his work. Read more

Published 11 months ago by Jim Kalinowski

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great one from Furst
Get yourself a comfortable chair and settle in for another of Alan Furst's outstanding novels of clandestine warriors in World War II. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Bryan

3.0 out of 5 stars Read "Night Soldiers" and "Dark Star" first
If The Polish Officer were the first Alan Furst book I read, I might be reluctant to sample another of his novels. Read more

Published 17 months ago by Marvel

2.0 out of 5 stars Just did not like it
I just didn't like this book. Quit reading it at about page 160 because it flipped around too much and no good character development.
Just plain poor writing.. Read more

Published 19 months ago by Ms barbara

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