Review by Booklist Review
Longtime reporter Pomfret, whose challenging assignments have included Bosnia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and China, here examines the unlikely and underreported alliance forged by the U.S. and Poland dating back to the 1980s, even as Poland was under the thrall of the Soviet Union. In his revealing behind-the-scenes account, Pomfret conveys the comity and respect each country's intelligence community had for the other even in the middle of the Cold War, which would enable the U.S. to rely on Poland's important intel on the Soviet Union, Iran, and North Korea, for instance, while enabling Poland to rely on the United States to clear the way, with surprising delicacy, for Poland's membership in NATO. Pomfret draws strong portraits of principal spies and diplomats on both sides, and recounts significant events, including Poland's daring rescue of six high-value American diplomats from Kuwait during the Gulf War. All in all, an important contribution to the study of U.S.-European relations.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The "natural fellowship, and ease of understanding" between Poland and the U.S. helped their respective intelligence agencies forge a special relationship after the Cold War, according to this immersive and vividly detailed history. Pulitzer finalist Pomfret (The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom) documents how "backdoor deals," such as the CIA's purchase of Polish weapons to send to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua, set the stage for the "floodgates of cooperation" to open in 1990, when Poland agreed to help rescue six American spies stranded in Iraq after Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. Among many mutually beneficial agreements, Pomfret highlights Poland's willingness to share intelligence from North Korea and Iran, and the U.S.'s support for including Poland in NATO. He also sheds light on darker aspects of the relationship, in particular Poland's agreement to let the CIA operate a "black site" where suspected terrorists were held and allegedly tortured. The lingering damage this scandal has done to the Polish government should serve as a warning, Pomfret writes, about "what happens when the United States asks for too much." Written in crisp, novelistic prose, this is an insightful study of the ins and outs of international spycraft. (Oct.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Pomfret (The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom), a former foreign correspondent in Warsaw with the Washington Post, writes a history of United States-Poland diplomacy and espionage spanning the 1950s through today. He says that during the Cold War, Poland ran one of the best intelligence operations in the world, and Polish agents in the United States and Japan stole technology that was then used to manufacture products that drove Poland's economy. All the while, the U.S. and Poland maintained a somewhat positive relationship that transitioned into an alliance following the fall of the Soviet Bloc. Polish intelligence then collaborated with the CIA during Operation Desert Storm and later the post-9/11 military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq; Poland even agreed to allow the interrogation of Taliban and Al Qaeda suspects on Polish soil. Pomfret writes that in recent years, Poland's right-wing government has turned on many retired Polish intelligence officers and drastically cut their pensions. Pomfret's book is based largely on interviews with Polish and American diplomats, former intelligence personnel, and government officials; many are mentioned in the book's vignettes of interactions between Polish and Western agents. VERDICT A decent foray into post-World War II intelligence that should appeal to readers interested in Cold War espionage or 20th-century Polish history.--Matthew Wayman, Pennsylvania State Univ. Lib., Schuylkill Haven
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An eye-opening account of America's relations with Poland and its intelligence service. In 1994, journalist Pomfret was the Washington Post bureau chief for Eastern Europe, located in Warsaw, when he heard a rumor that Polish spies had rescued six Americans from Saddam Hussein's forces in 1990. Tracking down the story was no easy matter, but his efforts have produced an entertaining political history of Poland since World War II, almost entirely focused on its intelligence service, which, under Soviet domination, rivaled the KGB in its ability to steal U.S. secrets. Unlike other Eastern European satellites that purged their security agencies after achieving independence in 1989, Poland's new democratic leadership decided that it was a bad idea to create an army of well-trained, unemployed opponents. Consequently, its new security service retained thousands of ex-communists who switched sides and served loyally. As Pomfret notes, CIA leaders were delighted. As one explained, "How could you not benefit from dealing with the Poles who lived in the most dangerous piece of real estate in Europe?...They'd had forty-five years of liaison with the KGB…and they knew tons more about the Soviets." The author ably demonstrates how, almost immediately, this policy produced benefits that have lasted into the present. Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait trapped many Americans, among them those six officers privy to secret information. The CIA asked for Poland's help, and Poland's security service assigned agents to the task. Pomfret delivers a nail-biting account of the escape that Polish agents engineered, featuring a hair-rising drive across Iraq to the border and safety. Long a faithful ally, Poland participated, despite misgivings, in the American debacles in Afghanistan and the second Iraq War, hosting a "black site" where investigators could question terrorist prisoners free of American legal protection. In return, the U.S. provided generous foreign aid, subsidized its intelligence service, and (sadly) kept quiet as, in recent decades, Poland has elected right-wing, authoritarian governments. A lively and insightful exploration of an overlooked international alliance. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
