Alan Furst
Alan Furst (born
February 20,
1941, in
New York City) is an American author of historical
spy novels set just prior to and during the
Second World War.
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. 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 journalist (most notably for
Esquire, and as a columnist for the
International Herald Tribune).
His early novels in the 1970s received limited success but the 1988 publication of
Night Soldiers revitalised both his career and, it could be argued, the entire genre of the spy novel.
Often compared to writers such as
Graham Greene and
Eric Ambler, Furst's work has a literary quality that sets it apart from most thriller writers. In addition to those two authors, Furst cites
Joseph Roth,
Joseph Conrad and
John Le Carré as important influences on his work. Furst has been particularly successful in evoking the cities and characters of Eastern Europe during the period from 1933-1944.
American by birth and upbringing, he currently lives in
Sag Harbor,
Long Island. However, Furst considers himself a European by sensibility. Awarded a Fulbright teaching fellowship in 1969, Furst moved to
Montpellier, France, and would later live for many years in
Paris. Paris (which he calls "the heart of civilization") plays a key role in all Furst novels.
Furst has long had a devoted popular and critical following in the UK, and his readership in North America has grown sharply since 2001.
Novels
Your Day in the Barrel - (1976)
The Paris Drop - (1980)
The Caribbean Account - (1981)
Shadow Trade - (1983)
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)
*
Inventory of Alan Furst papers 1961-2005 at Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
