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A review by barts_books
Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst
4.0
My third Alan Furst novel in the, so far, excellent Night Soldiers series. By now you could quite reasonably argue that Furst is a formulaic author but this seems unfair when the result is the most atmospheric depiction of 1930's Europe I've read since Eric Ambler.
Set in 1938, Nicholas Morath is a former Hungarian WW1 officer that now resides in Paris with his young Argentinian mistress. He's effectively a full time spy runner for his Uncle Polanyi, who is working under Diplomatic cover in the Hungarian embassy.
What was quite fascinating was the perilous position Hungary was in in the late 1930's as Hitler gradually expanded his 'living space'. The country had a significant anti-Nazi elite but at the same time not openly so as such an attitude would result in a swift doom should the country become occupied.
As Morath expands his mission across Europe where he juggles with this dangerous and sensitive political picture, we witness Czechoslovakia - once strong and proud reduced to a humiliating push back post-Munich and Antwerp, where Jewish diamond traders eek out a dying trade with hostile Nazi's breathing down their necks.
The plot does meander and loses focus a touch at times. As Furst would rather spend time with his character's domesticities than the wider action at large, but the writing itself is exquisite and provides wonderful escapism.
Set in 1938, Nicholas Morath is a former Hungarian WW1 officer that now resides in Paris with his young Argentinian mistress. He's effectively a full time spy runner for his Uncle Polanyi, who is working under Diplomatic cover in the Hungarian embassy.
What was quite fascinating was the perilous position Hungary was in in the late 1930's as Hitler gradually expanded his 'living space'. The country had a significant anti-Nazi elite but at the same time not openly so as such an attitude would result in a swift doom should the country become occupied.
As Morath expands his mission across Europe where he juggles with this dangerous and sensitive political picture, we witness Czechoslovakia - once strong and proud reduced to a humiliating push back post-Munich and Antwerp, where Jewish diamond traders eek out a dying trade with hostile Nazi's breathing down their necks.
The plot does meander and loses focus a touch at times. As Furst would rather spend time with his character's domesticities than the wider action at large, but the writing itself is exquisite and provides wonderful escapism.