Night Soldiers cover art

Night Soldiers

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Night Soldiers

By: Alan Furst
Narrated by: George Guidall
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

New York Times bestselling author Alan Furst is widely recognized as master of the historical spy novel. Furst’s works are vivid evocations of long-forgotten heroes and feature plots that unfold to the inexorable cadence of history. Night Soldiers is a simultaneously thrilling and illuminating tale of espionage set in 1934.

In Vidin, Bulgaria, where the flow of the river Danube has always brought thieves and conquerors, Khristo Stoianev witnesses his younger brother kicked to death by fascist militia. These are simple men of a backwater town, costumed in fresh uniforms emblazoned with a flaming cross insignia. But behind their barbaric actions stands the swastika.

From the terror-plagued Balkans, Khristo, a virgin in the ways of the outside world, is drawn east, toward Moscow and a new life as a Soviet spy.

©1988 Alan Furst (P)2004 Recorded Books
Espionage Genre Fiction Historical Mystery Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense War & Military Fiction Military Russia War Soviet Union

Listeners also enjoyed...

Prince of Spies cover art
Agent in Berlin cover art
Traitor's Gate cover art
King of the Jews cover art
The Winter Agent cover art
The Revolution of Marina M. cover art
A Single Spy cover art
Hyperion cover art
A Thread of Grace cover art
Elantris: Tenth Anniversary Author's Definitive Edition (1 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation) cover art
Beneath a Scarlet Sky cover art
War and Remembrance cover art
Doomsday Book cover art
Reamde cover art
Pandemic cover art

Critic reviews

"Furst shows a remarkable talent in his fifth novel, integrating details about the cultures of Spain, France and Eastern Europe with a fascinating story." (Publishers Weekly)
"Night Soldiers has everything the best thrillers offer, excitement, intrigue, romance, plus grown-up writing, characters that matter, and a crisp, carefully researched portrait of the period in which our own postwar world was shaped." (USA Today)
"Intelligent, ambitious, absorbing....The history is deftly incorporated; the viewpoint civilized; the characters and the settings picturesque; the adventures exciting; the writing pungent." (The New York Times)

All stars
Most relevant

What did you like most about Night Soldiers?

Excellently paced - after a rather slow start. Certainly makes you understand what was going on in Spain during the Civil War - this had always been a bit of a mystery to me, between POUM, PUP, etc. (I had read the Malraux novel and never made head or tale of the divisions - also of course I didn't really care......)

Who was your favorite character and why?

Naturally - our hero Christo! A man with a soul still alive despite his many tribulations

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He articulates the characters so well you really feel you know them

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Certainly not laugh! Mainly rage at the sheer evil of the NKVD - first manifested when they removed the stray dog the students had sheltered (of course very minor misdeed by their standards, but indicative! - somewhat reminiscent of what happened in Catholic institutions, who patented the areas of spying and mind-control). The book also highlighted the hopelessness of the lives of people in Eastern Europe.

Any additional comments?

A very interesting book - like all Alan Furst's. The character of the American girl was very well drawn.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Night Soldiers sees Alan Furst revisit the Balkans, home of some of his most enjoyable tales. This one has greater ambition, spanning the first half of the 20th century. Complex, well woven protagonists reach accompany us on a journey, well narrated by George Guidall. Would especially recommend for fans of Eric Ambler or David Downing.

Classic Furst espionage Epic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Loved it. And read by the best narrator out there, George Guidell. An absolute, informative treat.

Superb listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Intelligent, complex and compelling. This is First at his best, although everything he produces is a treat.

Outstanding

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Really interesting to learn about this war from a less familiar perspective. Brilliantly written and, at times, emotionally devastating. Can’t recommend too much.

Totally absorbing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews