I have no idea how accurate this account of spies in Poland leading up to World War II is, but it is convincing. The author writes authoritatively and seems to know what he is talking about. There is enough detail to hold the interest of the non specialist. The main character is also likeable and soon you care about him. ( )

The Spies of Warsaw was a well written and interesting book. However, in trying to summarize the plot, I've had a hard time. While the book was enjoyable, easy to read, and kept ones attention, the plot was rather meandering. Was it a spy novel? yes, in that the main character was technically a spy. Was it a political mystery? Not really, we already know what happens in the end. Was it a love story? No, there is a love interest, but that is only a useful prop. Was it a story of revenge? Nope. Was it a story of Espionage? Once again, No. The closest I can get, it was a story about a French military attache assigned to Warsaw a couple years before WWII and how he lived his life and tried to do the best job he could. Really this book was a collection of mini plot arcs. In spite of all that, I found it to be an engaging book, it really helps one get a feel for the time and place it was happening in. Ones knowledge (or lack of) the beginning of WWII could have a large impact how how the expectations of the story play out.

This book takes place mostly in and around pre-WWII Warsaw, with some trips to a few other places, such as Paris, and Germany. We follow Mercier, the French attache to Warsaw who has recently been assigned there, as he goes about doing his job, both the public and private aspects. His public duties consists of going to social functions in Poland and rubbing elbows with the elite and power brokers. The other duties are data gathering, reconnaissance and keeping ears open, reporting all useful information back up the chain of command. At first Mercier thinks little of his assignment, but as time goes on the secrets he slowly uncovers creates a picture that spells real trouble for both Poland and France. Can he convince his superiors, and those making the decisions on France's safety, he's right? ( )

Jean-Francois Mercier is the French military attaché in the Embassy in Warsaw when the novel opens in 1937 and continues on through 1939. Germany is re-arming, tensions in Europe are increasing, arms manufacturers are doing a booming business, Poland is nervous about both Germany and the predations of the USSR, France is desperate to know German military plans for war in the west, the French General Staff is divided between those who think the Maginot line will hold and those who think strategy has to break out into new directions, the Gestapo and the SD are increasingly active in seeking out and suppressing any opposition, bureaucracies are riven by jealousies and careerists, life is good for the wealthy and a struggle for others, Jews who can see the future unfolding are fleeing if they can, anti-semitism is becoming more and more apparent in German towns and villages, first class train travel in sleeper cars is opulent and dining cars offer fine fare….all of this is background for Furst’s novel as Mercier recruits and manages German intelligence contacts, deals with the Poles, saves defecting Soviet spies, spies on the Germans, and falls in love. Another of Furst’s novels with good characters, good pace, good plot, wonderful atmosphere both physical and psychological.

Let me start by saying I read this as a book club selection, not as an avid history buff. The main character of the novel is the possiblity of war. While Mercier's character is well developed, other characters were not as well developed. Many of the story lines that you expect to go somewhere, do not (the woman in the shower, his cousin Albertine, Voss' fate!!). After you do start to associate with Mercier, the book wraps up the remainder of his life in four sentences.

As someone who is not well versed in WWII history, I did struggle to understand the significance of several situations. I felt I had to have a laptop with the internet when reading the book. He does use random detail that was intriguing but borderline useless. For instance, his noting that Mercier sat in a chair in the hotel lobby with a pillar on one side and a potted palm on the other.

The end seemed anticlimatic, but the book seemed to be want to read as a non-fiction, rather than have the plot twists and turns of a fiction. ( )

An enjoyable quick read with nice development of places and feeling of the time. ( )