Secrets and Spies in Pre-World War II Paris

FRANCE WEEK

Arc d'Triomphe
Arc d’Triomphe

This is the last day of France week at A Traveler’s Library.  We’ve cooked Tex-Mex in Paris, gone for walks looking for celebrities and for hidden (and not-so hidden) gardens and shared some  pictures of travel in France. Now we’re going time traveling back to World War II–an exciting but dangerous time to be in Paris.

Destination: World War II Paris


Book: Mission to Paris (NEW–Release date June 12, 2012) by Alan Furst

We’ve visited Paris during war time before at A Traveler’s Library. Novelists thrive on the contrast between the City of Light and its darkest days. A perfect place for espionage, Paris frequently turns up in spy novels. France is a study in political jousting between right and left, and the divide was never stronger than immediately before and during World War II. Having just begun to recover from the devastation of World War I, a large segment of the population wanted nothing but peace, even if the price was allowing Hitler to have his way–peace at any price. On the other side, patriots argued that France must remain free, Jews must be protected from persecution, and the French underground flourished.  All of these opposing viewpoints and attitudes made for a very dramatic situation.

Alan Furst specializes in historical novels in various countries that bring real-life characters and events into a compelling story filled with true believers on both sides of the divide. The setting of Mission to Paris features the city where people eat well, dress well, and  prize intelligent conversation. The accidental hero, a Hollywood star, reminds me of the main character in a Hitchcock movie, finding himself quite unexpectedly in a dangerous situation. Fredrick Stahl (his stage name), intelligent,charming, good-looking and multi-lingual, was born in Austria. Nevertheless, he  comes across as the typical American, slightly naive in his belief in basic goodness and reluctance to accept the evil around him.

Lampost on Pont Neuf
Lampost on Pont Neuf

Hitler has just begun to expand the German territory and the Nazis “political warfare” office rewards a wealthy class of French citizens for resisting war and blocking French preparedness. Nazi propagandists ensure that U.S. as well as continental news sources emphasize the happy people of Germany and the good works of the Nazis in order to dampen any resistance to the German advances on other countries. When Stahl arrives in Paris to make a film for Paramount Pictures (loaned to them by Jack Warner, who hated the Nazis) the Germans waste no time in pressuring the actor to help their cause. The Americans, pre-OSS days, also used Hollywood stars, so Stahl’s life becomes more than interesting.

Although all the specifics are fictional, these fundamentals are drawn from actual history, which gives the book extra interest. Consider a world in which the American people were firmly opposed to going to war against Hitler, but the president, Franklin D. Roosevelt thought it was inevitable. How can the White House get information about the Nazis when there is no spy service in the United State government–civil or military? He appoints friends to diplomatic positions and charges them with gathering information. Amateur spy masters running amateur spies in an very real, dangerous world.

This is the world that Furst skillfully replicates in Mission to Paris. Besides the spy business, other details fascinated me–Paris social life in the late nineteen thirties, movie making in that time, the use and misuse of journalism, and above all a cast of unforgettable characters.  Furst presents the book in four parts, reflecting the movie star’s slow absorption into the world of espionage. I zipped through the book in two days, and felt I had truly time traveled to Paris in a most fascinating time. I just may have to check out some of Furst’s other historic spy novels.

Furst’s website says that The Spies of Warsaw has been made into a made for TV mini series for BBC America and will be shown in the fall of 2012. (If you want to read the novel before the TV show hits, just click on the title’s link to Amazon.com).

Pont Neuf  over the Seine, Paris
Pont Neuf over the Seine, Paris

If you want to walk in the footsteps of the characters from Mission to Paris, Furst has made it easy by including a map in the front of the book. Nearly every site mentioned in the book will be an easy walk from the Hotel Claridge, since Stahl, the movie star, preferred to walk.  A surprising number of the places mentioned in the book still exist, including the Claridge Hotel where the movie star stayed, and restaurants Brasserie d’Alsace and Maxime’s, not to mention Le Petite Bar (Now named for Hemingway) at The Ritz. Sorry, the rent-by-the-hour hotel where Frederic took Kiki is not included in this list. But you’d rather stay at Claridge anyhow, wouldn’t you?

Disclaimers:  This book was sent to me for review by the publisher. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links, meaning that if you buy something through those links, even though it costs you no more, it makes a few cents for A Traveler’s Library, and we really appreciate your support.  Photos here are my property. Please respect my copyright. 

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About Vera Marie Badertscher

A freelance writer who loves to travel. When she is not traveling she is reading about travel. When she is not reading or traveling, she is sharing with the readers of A Traveler's Library, or recreating her family's past at Ancestors In Aprons . She has written for Reel Life With Jane, Life is a Trip and other websites. Also co-author of a biography, Quincy Tahoma, The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist. Contact Vera Marie by e-mail.

3 thoughts on “Secrets and Spies in Pre-World War II Paris

  1. Great blog. I love some of the stories of the bravery and intrigue of the French underground during WW2. Thanks for sharing.

  2. France has always seemed such a melting pot of political ideas and expression. I love some of the stories of the bravery and intrigue of the French underground during WW2.

    1. Mark: I’m totally enamored with the French underground, too, and can’t get enough of it. It’s not in this story because the war had not officially started, but the divide between the appeasers and the patriots was already there.

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