Alan Furst (born February 20, 1941) is an American author of historical spy novels set just prior to and during the Second World War. February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... The spy fiction genre (sometimes called political thriller) first arose just before the First World War, at about the same time, the first organized intelligence agencies were being formed. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Born in New York City, and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Furst received a B.A. from Oberlin College in 1962 and an M.A. from Penn State in 1967. Furst's papers, on deposit at the Ransom Humanities Center in the U. of Texas, Austin, include "a 1963 letter from Furst's grandfather Max Stockman in which his grandson is urged to be a teacher and 'write as a sideline' in his spare time." Furst did not follow this advice. While attending general studies courses at Columbia University, he became acquainted with Margaret Mead, for whom he later worked. Before becoming a full-time novelist, Furst worked in advertising and as a magazine article writer (not, according to Furst himself, as a "journalist", as has often been reported), most notably for Esquire, and as a columnist for the International Herald Tribune. The Ransom collection includes articles on a wide variety of topics, published in many magazines for which no common denominator can be found: "Architectural Digest, Elle, Esquire, 50 Plus, International Herald Tribune, Islands, New Choices, New York, The New York Times, Pursuits, Salon, and Seattle Weekly." Furst seems to have been taking whatever jobs he was offered. This broad education, however, can be linked to the often-remarked accuracy of how it feels for his spies to live by their wits, with nothing to rely on but intelligence and luck. It also no doubt enriched his descriptions of minor characters in a great variety of professions. The Ransom collection, probably prepared with Furst's approval, remarks: "Of note is the April 1984 Esquire article, "The Danube Blues," which sparked Furst's interest in writing espionage novels. Numerous slides of his 1983 Danube trip are also available. Unproduced screenplays include "Heros of the Last War" (1984), and "Warsaw" (1992)." Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676 Government  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area... The Upper West Side is a neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River. ... The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... Oberlin College is a small, selective liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, in the United States. ... The Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (commonly known as Penn State) is a state-related land-grant university in Pennsylvania, with over 80,000 students at 24 campuses throughout the state. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States. ... Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901, Philadelphia – November 15, 1978, New York City) was an American cultural anthropologist. ... George Lois cover design for Esquire (May 1969) Esquire is a magazine for men owned by the Hearst Corporation. ... The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. ...

His early novels in the 1970s achieved limited success. The Ransom collection includes the manuscripts for something called "ONE SMART COOKIE (with Debbi Fields, 1987) Drafts, 1986 17 1 Debbi's copy 2 Master copy 3 Randy's copy 4-5 Copy-edited typescript 6 Correspondence re revisions

which seems to be a commissioned biography of the owner of the Mrs. Field's Cookies company.

The next year, the 1988 publication of Night Soldiers—inspired by a trip to Eastern Europe on assignment for Esquire—revitalised both his career and, it could be argued, the entire genre of the spy novel. Regions of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (UN definition of Eastern Europe marked salmon):  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  Southern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium...

Often compared to the works of such writers as Graham Greene and Eric Ambler, Furst's novels—which he calls "historical espionage"—have a literary quality that sets them apart from most thrillers. In addition to Greene and Ambler, Furst cites Joseph Roth, Joseph Conrad, and John Le Carré as important influences. Furst has been particularly successful in evoking the cities and characters of Eastern Europe during the period from 1933 to 1944. Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH (October 2, 1904 – April 3, 1991) was a prolific English novelist, playwright, short story writer, travel writer and critic whose works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world. ... Eric Ambler (28 June 1909 - 22 October 1998) was an influential English writer of spy novels who brought a level of realism to the field that had generally been absent in earlier works. ... Joseph Roth (September 2, 1894 in Brody - May 27, 1939 in Paris) was an Austrian Jewish novelist who converted to Catholicism and is best known for his family saga The Radetzky March (1932), and for his novel of Jewish life Job (1930). ... Joseph Conrad. ... John le Carré is the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell (born October 19, 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England), an English writer of espionage novels. ...

Furst lives in Sag Harbor, Long Island, but he considers himself a European by sensibility. Awarded a Fulbright teaching fellowship in 1969, Furst moved to Montpellier, France. He later lived for many years in Paris, a city that he calls "the heart of civilization" and that figures significantly in all his novels. Sag Harbor is a village located in Suffolk County, New York, shared by the towns of East Hampton and Southampton. ... Map showing Long Island; to the north is Connecticut and to the west are New York City and New Jersey. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... The Fulbright Program is a program of educational grants (Fulbright Fellowships and Fulbright Scholarships), founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright, and sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State and by governments in other countries. ... Montpellier (Occitan Montpelhièr) is a city in the south of France. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ...

Furst has long had a devoted popular and critical following in the UK, and his readership in North America has grown sharply since 2001. World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...

Novels

• Your Day in the Barrel (1976)
• The Paris Drop (1980)
• The Caribbean Account (1981)
• Shadow Trade (1983)

Night Soldiers series

• Night Soldiers (1988)
• Dark Star (1991)
• The Polish Officer (1995)
• The World at Night (1996)
• Red Gold (1999)
• Kingdom of Shadows (2000)
• Blood of Victory (2003)
• Dark Voyage (2004)
• The Foreign Correspondent (2006)

External links

• Brendan Bernhard (September 29, 2004). Our Best Thriller Writer. New York Sun Newspaper.
• Inventory of Alan Furst papers 1961-2005 at Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.