Book Review: From Warsaw with Love by John Pomfret

About:

From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance by John Pomfret traces the relationship between ex-communist Poland’s intelligence service and the American intelligence services. Mr. Pomfret is an American journalist and published author.

• 288 pages
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Henry Holt and Co.
  
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250296056

My rat­ing for From Warsaw with Love — 5
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Thoughts:

This is certainly a fascinating book, well-written and, indeed, documented. From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance by John Pomfret captures the relationship of the US and its allies in a most exciting narrative.

The book chiefly describes the decades long relationship between Polish and US intelligence agencies. Without a doubt, Poland has been trying to come out from under the heavy hand of the Russians. Intelligence agencies, however, are not known for their trusting nature, and the Poles had to prove themselves, over and over again, to be an upstanding ally.

The turning point, however, was a nail-biting escape of six Americans from Iraq. The men were led by a Polish agent, specifically Deputy Head of Polish Intelligence. All six made it out alive, however the event was never publicized for decades afterwards.

Gradually, the US trained, as well as equipped our Polish allies. However, this was not an equal relationship and as much as the Poles tried to prove their friendship, it was sometimes taken advantage of – with serious geopolitical consequences.

The fickle nature of US politics is undeniably in the background. Soldiers, like General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of American forces in the Persian Gulf War, who needed as much intelligence as he can get. Politicians who are still in a “Cold War” mentality. Politicians, like Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush who were in favor of NATO to accept Poland and other former Eastern Bloc countries. And those like President Donald Trump, who didn’t understand why the United States needs allies at all (not a political statement, the author quotes John Bolton, Trump’s National Security Advisor).

The last section of the book is where Mr. Pomfret discusses three important lessons. Analyzing those, in the context of the book, shows of a thoughtful narrative, not just adventurous story-telling.

Buy From Warsaw with Love from Amazon.com*
More Books by John Pomfret *

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account, the money is usually spent on books