''The Spies of Warsaw'' is a 2008 spy novel by

Alan Furst Alan Furst (; born 1941) is a Jewish-American author of historical spy novels. Furst has been called "an heir to the tradition of Eric Ambler and Graham Greene," whom he cites along with Joseph Roth and Arthur Koestler as important influences. M ...

about espionage involving the major nations shortly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

competing for influence and control over the future of Poland. The story starts in October 1937 and ends in May 1938, with a one paragraph description outlining the future of the two lead characters.

Adaptation

The book was adapted for television in 2013, with the title ''

Spies of Warsaw ''The Spies of Warsaw'' is a 2008 spy novel by Alan Furst about espionage involving the major nations shortly before World War II competing for influence and control over the future of Poland. The story starts in October 1937 and ends in May 1938 ...

'', a co-production of

TVP1 TVP1 (TVP Jeden, ''Program I Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Jedynka"'') is the main public television channel of TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.), Poland's national television broadcaster. It was the first Polish channel to be broadcast and remains one ...

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ser ...

, and

ARTE Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

, and premiered in January in the United Kingdom and in April in the United States. It starred

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

as the protagonist Colonel Jean-François Mercier and

Janet Montgomery Janet Ruth Montgomery (born 29 October 1985) is an English film and TV actress. She first gained attention for her role as Ames in the second season of the television series ''Human Target'' (2010–11), and also for her appearance in the 2009 ...

as his love interest Anna Skarbek. The two-part drama received some positive reviews in the UK, especially for the script and acting, although

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

described it as "pallid as much of the washed-out photography". As in other Alan Furst novels, the fictional Parisian restaurant Brasserie Heininger serves as one of the settings for dialogue.

References

External links

* Novels by Alan Furst 2008 American novels American spy novels American historical novels Novels set during World War II Novels set in Poland Fiction set in 1937 American novels adapted into television shows Fiction set in 1938 {{2000s-WWII-novel-stub