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Blood of Victory: A Novel
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780812968729
ISBN: 0812968727
Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: May 13, 2003
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Release Date: May 13, 2003
Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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Editorial Review:
I.A. Serebin, an émigré writer who heads the International Russian Union and edits its literary magazine, is no stranger to war: "Two gangsters, one neighborhood, they fight," he comments at a dinner party on a yacht in the Istanbul harbor in the autumn of 1940. Istanbul, to which Serebin has come to say good-bye to a dying friend, is a haven for spies, arms dealers, diplomats, and intrigue. Like most of the author's protagonists, Serebin is a romantic, a reluctant hero who tries to believe that war will not really change anything: "Hold fast to life as it should be, the daily ritual, work, love, and then it will be" is his credo. After Paris falls to the Germans, he realizes that is impossible. When a French diplomat's wife, whom he met and bedded on the freighter that brought him to Turkey, puts him in touch with a Hungarian spy working with the British Secret Service, Serebin allows himself to be recruited for a mission to disrupt the flow of oil from Romania's Ploesti fields to German factories--something that has been tried by the British before, without success. Alan Furst, a master stylist whose novels are peopled with characters who remain in the reader's mind long after the last page is turned, evokes Istanbul's smoky, spicy, shadowy atmosphere with the same authenticity he brings to the settings of all his thrillers, most notably Paris. No one is better at describing both place and players in the period just before and during World War II; widely hailed as the successor to Eric Ambler and Graham Greene, Furst proves in his gripping, compulsively readable seventh novel what a contender he is for that title. --Jane Adams
In the autumn of 1940, Russian émigré journalist I. A. Serebin is recruited in Istanbul by an agent of the British secret services for a clandestine operation to stop German importation of Romanian oil—a last desperate attempt to block Hitler’s conquest of Europe. Serebin’s race against time begins in Bucharest and leads him to Paris, the Black Sea, Beirut, and, finally, Belgrade; his task is to attack the oil barges that fuel German tanks and airplanes. Blood of Victory is a novel with the heart-pounding suspense, extraordinary historical accuracy, and narrative immediacy we have come to expect from Alan Furst.
Blood of Victory is a novel rich with suspense, historical insight, and the powerful narrative immediacy we have come to expect from bestselling author Alan Furst. The book takes its title from a speech given by a French senator at a conference on petroleum in 1918: "Oil," he said, "the blood of the earth, has become, in time of war, the blood of victory."November 1940. The Russian writer I. A. Serebin arrives in Istanbul by Black Sea freighter. Although he travels on behalf of an émigré organization based in Paris, he is in flight from a dying and corrupt Europe -- specifically, from Nazi-occupied France. Serebin finds himself facing his fifth war, but this time he is an exile, a man without a country, and there is no army to join. Still, in the words of Leon Trotsky, "You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you." Serebin is recruited for an operation run by Count Janos Polanyi, a Hungarian master spy now working for the British secret services. The battle to cut Germany's oil supply rages through the spy haunts of the Balkans; from the Athenée Palace in Bucharest to a whorehouse in Izmir; from an elegant yacht club in Istanbul to the river docks of Belgrade; from a skating pond in St. Moritz to the fogbound banks of the Danube; in sleazy nightclubs and safe houses and nameless hotels; amid the street fighting of a fascist civil war.Blood of Victory is classic Alan Furst, combining remarkable authenticity and atmosphere with the complexity and excitement of an outstanding spy thriller. As Walter Shapiro of Time magazine wrote, "Nothing can be like watching Casablanca for the first time, but Furst comes closer than anyone has in years."
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Into Romania
Another of Furst's reluctant spy novels. Serebin has enough of the history of inter-war Europe wrapped up in him to ensure that he has already seen most of what is to come, but continues to strive forward. Again, the motivation is not ideology, but a personal sense of right and wrong.
Rating:  - Blood of Victory
I don't read these books, but my dad sure seemed excited. He is a Tom Clancy fan and has read all of his books. This author had good reviews so I gave him a shot
Rating:  - The worst one from A.Furst
I do like A.Furst novels, but this one should be avoided. The main character is completely unbelievable, there are tons of errors in historic environment, and the story is unbelievable too. In addition to this it is boring and predictable.
Rating:  - Nazis, Oil, and Middle Europe
BLOOD OF VICTORY is one of three novels--which take place in Europe just before and during World War II--by Alan Furst that I've read to date. Furst is a master of mood, scene and historical detail, and though the plots are somewhat loosely assembled, he manages to build considerable narrative conflict and dramatic excitement nonetheless. His is a very cerebral historical espionage fiction. Furst doesn't write sex scenes well, for instance--unless, of course, his intent is not to be the least ... Read More
Rating: - Strategy and drama all together
Furst does a fine job of combining real world strategy concerns from WWII with romance, intrigue and covert special operations set against the backdrop of the Balkans and south eastern Europe where betrayal is the norm. If you are not familar with the concerns of the Romanian oil fields in WWII, this may be a little tough to read and understand, but if you have a CHurchill-ian outlook, this is a great read.
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