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    Night Soldiers: A Novel
    Night Soldiers: A Novel
    Night Soldiers: A Novel
    Audiobook18 hours

    Night Soldiers: A Novel

    Written by Alan Furst

    Narrated by George Guidall

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    New York Times bestselling author Alan Furst is widely recognized as master of the historical spy novel. Furst’s works are vivid evocations of long-forgotten heroes and feature plots that unfold to the inexorable cadence of history. Night Soldiersis a simultaneously thrilling and illuminating tale of espionage set in 1934.

    In Vidin, Bulgaria, where the flow of the river Danube has always brought thieves and conquerors, Khristo Stoianev witnesses his younger brother kicked to death by fascist militia. These are simple men of a backwater town, costumed in fresh uniforms emblazoned with a flaming cross insignia. But behind their barbaric actions stands the swastika. From the terror-plagued Balkans, Khristo, a virgin in the ways of the outside world, is drawn east, toward Moscow and a new life as a Soviet spy.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 3, 2008
    ISBN9781436117067
    Night Soldiers: A Novel
    Author

    Alan Furst

    Alan Furst is widely recognized as the master of the historical spy novel. He is the author of Night Soldiers, Dark Star, The Polish Officer, The World at Night, Red Gold, Kingdom of Shadows, Blood of Victory, and Dark Voyage. Born in New York, he has lived for long periods in France, especially Paris. He now lives on Long Island, New York. Visit the author's website at AlanFurst.net.

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    Reviews for Night Soldiers

    4/5

    435 ratings33 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Brilliant WWII era spy novel. Furst's characters are full and realistic, his dialog is crisp and believable, the plotting intricate and logical. This book was a great, sprawling, epic story of a Bulgarian, Khristo Stoianev, recruited by the NKVD (Soviet secret police and forerunner of the KGB) in the lead up to the second world war. Stoianev falls victim to one of Stalin's irrational purges during Stoianev's operations in the Spanish Civil War. He escapes to France, closely pursued by his former NKVD colleagues, and hilarity ensues.I recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in spy fiction, WWII or the inner workings of Soviet espionage organizations.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I can't believe that I have not heard of this series of books before. What a great read about a Bulgarian turned Soviet spymaster turned defector during the years of World War II. The book was dark, raw, and did a fantastic job of placing the reader in the Europe of the time. I felt it was realistic and gritty, and really gave what I believe to be a true sense of what the war would have been like for people living it. The story covers the travels of the main character, but it also does a great job introducing us to many minor characters and spans the countries of Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, Spain, France, and even America. I can't wait to read the next in the series and am excited that there are many more to read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      George Guidall and Alan Furst are the perfect team for an intense audiobook experience! Thank you!
    • 5/5
      Author and reader are the perfect combination. Furst’s ability to create the atmosphere of interwar Europe, especially E. Europe means his novels are some of my favourites.
      Got a bit lost by the different characters towards the end. If I’d had the book I’d have been able to refer back to remind myself. But then I wouldn’t have the the voice and inflection of George Guidall reading which is utterly brilliant.
      I could listen to him reading Furst any time.
    • 5/5
      Furst gives us such fascinating details in a distant corner of the war - East Europe, the Danube, and the despicable NKVD.
    • 4/5
      Night Soldiers by Alan Furst A story of a young man who is "recruited" by a Russian and taken from his home in Bulgaria and trained "in the craft of spying".

      This story follows his life from Russia to Spain to France to Germany. This is a huge undertaking to read, at around 460 pages it requires concentration and commitment but it is hugely rewarding. Superbly written and completely coherent with distinct characters. It conjures up real atmosphere in every setting of this panoramic story. Epic is the word I was looking for and in this case it is the word that best fits this masterpiece.
    • 5/5
      Read twice in the last few years. A wonderful, wide-ranging in time and space, novel with a dark, mysterious ending. Great protagonist and characters.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this "spy novel", as I expected I would -- all the smart people I know who like spy novels either own it or recommend it or both. It's sort of a personal story and a sprawling story at the same time, covering the whole of World War II in its timeline, and doing a great job of giving a sense of the European perspective on that war. In particular, the middle-school history version of World War II (Hitler started killing people, so England and Russia and the U.S. stepped up) is shown to be a farce: the political tumult underlying the war is both far more complicated than that, involving ethnic groups and ideologies and religions and nations (whatever those are) that have been at war for thousands of years in Europe. One tries to be happy while there is no fighting, but most of the time, one just tries to survive.

      I put "spy novel" in quotes above because there's almost no spying. the protagonist is a former spy for Russia, but pretty early on, he strikes out on his own, in part because he's not a True Believer and in part because of the internal power struggles that characterize Russia's approach to this unique Europe-wide turmoil.
    • 3/5
      3.5*
      This first book of Furst's Night Soldiers series was headed for a 2.5 - 3 star rating until about halfway through. The description of how Khristo Stoianev was recruited into the NKVD & his training there didn't enthrall me. I am sure that it is excellent historical fiction but it is of a time & place that was grim. However, I am glad that I perservered because eventually I did become caught up in the plot and wanted to find out what would happen.
    • 5/5
      Night Soldiers by Alan Furst; bk1; (4 1/2*)Night Soldiers is a dense and dark novel, rightly so inasmuch as it covers the period 1934 through 1945 in Europe. I find this to be one of the most tragic periods in human history, albeit a fascinating time. While being a spy thriller, Night Soldiers is so much more in that its real strength is the atmosphere it creates through the author's fine writing and his well done historical and geographic research. I was sucked right into the times in a way that only very good fiction can do.This is a long book and not an easy read. Action switches quickly and not always with explanation. Characters appear briefly, never to be heard from again. The story rambles forward rather than being propelled by the plot. However I found myself so invested in the characters that I could hardly put the book down.
    • 5/5
      I love Alan Furst's noir thrillers of the 1930's and 1940's. He always has the atmosphere of his stories pitch perfect. However, I came to his books in the middle of his series and now am looping back to start reading his earlier books in order. The Night Soldier is his first; the story of a young Bulgarian, Khristo, who is driven from his home after his brother is killed by fascist thugs and is recruited by a Russian NKVD agent and brought to Moscow for training.There he arrives just in time for Stalin's purges. He manages to bob and weave and avoid being sent to the Gulag, but ends up in the Spanish Civil War instead. There he learns that the fascists and the communists are pretty much alike in their cruelty and manages to escape to France. There he is arrested and imprisoned, but when the Germans invade, is set free by partisans and begins life again as a resistance fighter.Like all of Furst's heroes Khristo is wily and cynical and not about to fall for any given ideology. He is, however, loyal to his friends and incredibly brave, so I appreciated the outcome of the book very much.
    • 4/5
      Was a little slow getting in to it for me. I'm not familiar with the Spanish Civil War, so it was hard to follower who the players were.
    • 4/5
      Deep, poignant, dark, ultimately satisfying, like a long difficult journey where much is accomplished and much is learned.

      Interesting to compare Furst's Night Soldiers with the popular WWII spy thrillers of Ken Follett. Where reading Follett is smooth and easy as a skating rink, Furst is toilsome as a narrow mountain trail, full of rocks, caves, dead-ends and thorny ledges.

      Not an easy read. In part because of the brutally painful experiences lived by the characters. But also because of the fictional technique: at times as oblique and murky as the world of espionage it depicts.

      Furst has a habit of introducing new viewpoint characters just for one or two scenes. The effect is enriching, as we are given multiple perspectives on events and characters. But it's also difficult to follow, as the reader struggles to piece together information about what is happening and why--sort of like the mental work required of a spy.

      Overall this is an excellent book, but you have to think hard and pay attention.
    • 2/5
      2 out of 5 = it was ok.I grabbed this audiobook edition at an Audible author sale to try out my first Night Soldiers after reading reviews that made comparisons to John Le Carre and other top espionage authors. It didn't come through for me though as it felt like a superficial travelogue through pre-WWII and WWII guerilla fights in the Spanish Civil War and the French Resistance with a cameo appearance in the Soviet Gulag. Sort of like Forrest Gump joins the NKVD and then has to get out (except it is spread out over 2 or 3 main characters (including an American that pops in about ½ way through). All of the background felt correct though, so the research was excellent. It was just that the lack of focus on a single character and too wide of a landscape made me miss the more human-weakness centred stories of those such as Le Carre. The reading by George Guidall was fine.
    • 4/5
      In this first book of his thematic series, Furst seems to lay out the entire sweep of what later books take up in parts. The entirety of his timeline, and perhaps geography, are bracketed in Night Soldiers: from 1934 rural Bulgaria to 1944 war ruined Prague, in between a rare look at American espionage efforts, an extended detour into the Nazi & Soviet test grounds of the Spanish Civil War, a stint with the French Resistance in the Cambras region of southern France. In fact, locales cover the Continent and even reach New York City, and the story extends a few months into the post-war period, but the perspective throughout retains a decided feel for Eastern Europe, underscored in Furst's choice of protagonist. The plot follows Khristo Stoianev and the repercussions of his training by Soviets for espionage work. Stoianev and his comrades style themselves BF 825 (Brotherhood Front plus the "true" team standings following a training exam which outcome was unfairly determined).There are signs of how Furst will refine his approach in later books. I think here he overplays the character of Fay, who "made a difference, saved lives" -- in later books, this message is recast as a central question to be confronted, seldom answered so black and white as here. It wasn't necessary, either: Furst shows what happens after he tells it, and the showing was far more ambiguous than the telling. Should have let the showing stand for itself, and in later books he does.//The last blurb in my Kindle edition notes Night Soldiers is proxy for the unwritten memoir of so many dead agents. The blend of personal narrative and seemingly accurate factual descriptions of operations, outlooks, challenges indeed fits the tone of such a memoir.An anecdote reveals the origin of the term fifth column: (Spanish) Nationalist General Mola's siege of Madrid, and the question put by an international journalist as to which of his four columns would have the honour of entering the city first. Mola replies quizzically that he has a fifth column inside Madrid, and it will lead the assault.The famed assassination at Brasserie Heininger, mentioned in so many other books, though the specific bullet in the wall behind a certain booth wasn't called out.
    • 3/5
      I liked the way this story takes place on the margins of world war II. Main character from the Balkans who is pulled into spy work for soviet union. Ends up in Spain during the civil war, in France during the German occupation, etc. Takes you into the obscure places of eastern europe. Ended up liking this quite a lot. Often find Furst complicated to follow with audiobooks. Quite loaded with information and talk. But this book did capture me (listed as audiobook, quite a bit on a road trip, maybe that was the secret).
    • 3/5
      I perceive that my middling rating for this book is largely influenced by my decision to listen to the audio edition rather than read the print edition. The first third of the book creates the setting and introduces the main characters slowly by inference and realization. For example, there are many characters that are introduced for one or two paragraphs and then never referenced again; it is only by continual reference that one realizes who are the main characters. These characters actions are inferred when another characters reflects on having witnessed an event. The scene changes frequently and without obvious breaks in the flow. I became so confused that I had to re-read entire sections from a borrowed, print copy to get back on track. The latter two-thirds of the book were more clear but I still lost the train of thought too many times. I wish that I had decided to read only the print version. The author's writing style is excellently formatted for that mode.
    • 2/5
      Night Soldiers by Alan Furst is the first book in a long series of books set in different places and times within the setting of World War Two. The books don't have to be read in order and in that regard are rather like Terry Pratchett's Discworld books.Here it is Bulgaria, 1934. Khristo Stoianev is recruited by the Soviet Union's KKVD (secret intelligence service) after his brother is murdered by the local fascists. He's sent to Span during their Civil War.The other Furst books I've read have been trade paperbacks. This time I tried something different — an audio read by George Guidall. Here is one of those times when I wish I had opted for print, despite counting Guidall as one of my all time favorite audiobook readers.Furst puts a ton of detail into his books, as well as observations on local customs and human nature. But these tangents and asides don't work as monologues. They need to be skipped, skimmed and re-read depending on mood — and none of those options are easy on an audio.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book by Furst dealing with the time period after Hitler comes to power until the end of the war. The lead character is Khristo Stanoianev a young Bulgarian whose younger brother is killed by the local Fascists for mocking them during a parade, and who then is recruited by a Russian for a school being run by the Soviets in Moscow to train them to become NKVD (secret intelligence) operative throughout Europe. The scope of this story is larger than the other Furst books that I have read, in that it tells Khristo's story over a long period, through the end of the war. Furst once again presents an excellent depiction of the time, its mood and overall atmosphere.
    • 5/5
      The story begins in 1937. Kristo Stoinev, a Bulgarian is recruited by the NKVD, the Russian secret service, after he runs into trouble with the local Fascist group in his home town of Vidin. Here he trained in the art of espionage. He make friends with various people of differing ethnicities. He is send to Spain to run an agent. Due to personnel and policy changes in the NKVD, he comes under suspicion and is forced to flee from Spain. He lands up in Paris determined to lead a straight life but is pulled into a net of con men and plans a robbery of gold from a Russian embassy personnel. The robbery goes well but he once again comes in the radar of NKVD. the NKVD catches up to him but in return to valuable information he is allowed to go but has to leave France and his girlfriend behind. On the run he is recruited by the OSS, the American secret service but is abandoned in the field. By this time it is 1945 and the war is at its end and Kristo seeks to go back home. The beauty of this book lies in the details. The author lays stress on the little things and puts us on the ground with Kristo. Being a spy is not about the style, it is a constant struggle for survival. An excellent read.
    • 5/5
      The best novel I have read in a while. I time and a place that I have always been interested in brought to life. A little slow in a couple of places but always giving a sense of the way it might have been w these people in these places in those times. Most characters brought to life at least enough and always a sense of place w smells, sights and thoughts. Looking forward to the next Furst read.
    • 5/5
      I re-read Night Soldiers, published in 1988, to kick off a campaign to re-read all of Furst's novels in publication order before treating myself to his latest, published this month (June 2012). The story begins in 1934. In anticipation of a war to come, the Soviet spy service NKVD is recruiting potential agents from all over Eastern Europe. Khristo Stoianev, a Bulgarian from a village on the Danube, is thrown together with a Yugoslav, a Romanian, and a Pole to compete as a team in the spy training games. Cheated out of a victory, they form a mutual-aid pact, the BF 825, which reappears at critical times in Khristo's adventures during the next ten years. He serves in the Spanish Civil War in Madrid, escapes to Paris, is betrayed, imprisoned for a couple of years, and released. He joins the French underground, then near the end of the war travels down the Danube to aid in the escape from Russia of his former NKVD mentor.All through the book, Khristo and the other members of BF 825 are caught between fighting Germans and the competing demands of Soviet, British, and American intelligence services. This tension between friendship, nationality and ideology is the recurring theme of Alan Furst's next ten (and counting) novels, all of which are set in various parts of Europe just before or during World War II. I like Alan Furst for his believable characters, moody settings, and subtle touches of humor. My main quibble with this book, the first of a series of loosely connected World War II literary spy novels, is that he tries to cram too much into it. I would have loved the book to be cut into two, with the trip down the Danube from Bratislava to the delta on the Black Sea expanded into a full-length book. If you've never read Alan Furst, Night Soldiers is a good place to start.
    • 5/5
      In Bulgaria, in 1934, on a muddy street in the town of Vidin, Kristo Stoianev saw his brother kicked to death by Fascist militia.That's the first line of Furst's Night Soldiers, immediately introducing us to the book's central figure and hinting at the forces personal and political that would drive him. Kristo is soon recruited into the NKVD--the Soviet Secret Police and sent for training to Moscow. There he is part of a class in espionage drawn from throughout Europe--Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania, Germany. There he'll learn to cheat and kill to win and to survive--and those he meets there will have an impact on him and the world without for years to come.This is a very well-written book. It has the kind of flow and strong prose you find in what is called literary fiction rather than a pulp thriller. I liked Kristo, but I don't know that I ever felt very attached to him as a character, or to any of the characters. It's more that Kristos and others we meet such as Faye Berns and Ilya Goldman are ways through which Furst can tell the convoluted and twisty tale of espionage and counterespionage in Europe in the 30s and 40s from the Spanish Civil War to the French Resistance during Nazi Occupation to the clanging shut of the Iron Curtain. It's a fascinating and educational tale at that.
    • 5/5
      The story starts off in 1934 with a violent bang. Khristo Stoianev is a Bulgarian teenager who witnesses the brutal beating and subsequent killing of his younger brother, Nikko. Nikko, only 15 years old, was used as an example of a growing power. Using this tragedy as a vehicle for change, Khristo is drawn into the NKVD, the Soviet intelligence service. From there he is sent to serve in the Spanish Civil war (although it is curious to note during his training he was taught English and French, not Spanish). Meanwhile,the political arena is heating up. Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia are arm wrestling over real estate in Eastern Europe. Stalin is starting to purge the undesirables and this is to include Khristo so he flees to France.Furst paints a stunning picture of eleven years of Eastern European history complete with French underground guerrilla operations, lavish love affairs, the never ending quest for power and multidimensional aspects of war.
    • 4/5
      Set just prior to and during WWII this novel follows Khristo Stoianev from his home town in Bulgaria where he is recruited by the Soviet spy instution, the NKVD, when a member of his family is killed after speaking out against the rising tide of fascism. Sent to a training camp full of people gathered from similar situations to his own, Khristo forms an alliance with his team and despite the tone of distrust and watchfulness that his new masters instil it is this comradeship which threads throughout the narrative of the book.After completing his training he finds himself sent to Spain where the Civil War is in full swing. Learning of his imminent arrest during the Stalin purges he manages to flee to France and tries to keep a low profile to avoid the notice of those who will be sent after him. Unfortunately, things don't work out for him here either and after being caught up in political manoeuvrings he ends up in jail until being freed with the German occupation ensues. From there he becomes involved in the rising of the French resistance and the book also relates the formation of the OSS (the spy team for the USA).This book gives a great insight into the political situation in Europe and shifting tides during the run up and time of WWII and is very evocative of how life was during that period. A great read and I'll look forward to my next encounter with this author's work.
    • 5/5
      I adore Alan Furst's writing. He specializes in historical fiction set in pre-World War II to early-World War II Europe, usually setting the story in one or two locales, but in this, he expanded his scope to great effect. His research is excellent, as is his attention to detail.Night Soldiers is a sweeping novel that follows the life of Khristo Stoianev, a young Bulgarian who, in 1934, saw his younger brother stomped to death by local fascists. Soon after, a Russian shows up, recruiting young men to the Communist cause. Khristo, having nothing to look forward to in his bleak town and caught up in circumstances beyond his control, goes with him. Trained by the NKVD, the precursor to the KGB, Khristo excels at intelligence and counter-intelligence and is soon stationed in Spain, a country in the midst of civil war while Germany and Russia vie for influence. A dutiful officer of the NKVD, Khristo is no ideologue and when he's warned he will be swept up in Stalin's purges, he flees to France, where his life grows yet more complicated.For much of the book, Khristo is a tool, a weapon, someone who is manipulated into playing a role. Yet despite the violence and dangers of the time, despite the conspiracies and conflicts, Khristo is a survivor, someone who longs to simply lead a normal life. By the time the story ends, in 1945, we've traveled throughout France, Spain, and Eastern Europe with Khristo and as I turned the last page and closed the cover, I was most reluctant to say goodbye to him.If you haven't read Alan Furst, you should. And this is as good a book to start with as any.r
    • 4/5
      Good historical fiction of the period 1934-45 in Eastern Europe, where the period is not as well documented. The audio book seemed too long, but was read nicely by George Guidall. It might be more enjoyable to read as a book if there was a map of the places involved in the book so one could tell where they are - I am not that familiar with especially smaller towns in these countries or how the river flows through them.
    • 5/5
      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-createsthe 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.
    • 3/5
      Exciting, well plotted thriller
    • 4/5
      Night Soldiers is a classic espionage story that takes place just prior to and during WWII. It is the story of a young Bulgarian trained by the Soviets as a spy. It is a tale of intrigue, double cross, suspicion and love--all things that go into a good espionage story. The book follows Khristo Stoianev and a cast of characters through the Spanish Civil War, through Europe, across the ocean to the US and back again to Europe. It tells of the French resistance, the Stalinist purges, the beginnings of the OSS and much more in a very convoluted web. The story is fascinating, but at times the book seems to drag. For the most part, the main character is a pawn of various forces, but in the end, he comes into his own and makes the journey he has to make. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy an espionage thriller without the common blood and gore that seems too often to take the place of good plot and good story telling.