From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance
From Warsaw with Love is the epic story of how Polish intelligence officers forged an alliance with the CIA in the twilight of the Cold War, told by the award-winning author John Pomfret.

Spanning decades and continents, from the battlefields of the Balkans to secret nuclear research labs in Iran and embassy grounds in North Korea, this saga begins in 1990. As the United States cobbles together a coalition to undo Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, six US officers are trapped in Iraq with intelligence that could ruin Operation Desert Storm if it is obtained by the brutal Iraqi dictator. Desperate, the CIA asks Poland, a longtime Cold War foe famed for its excellent spies, for help. Just months after the Polish people voted in their first democratic election since the 1930s, the young Solidarity government in Warsaw sends a veteran ex-Communist spy who’d battled the West for decades to rescue the six Americans.

John Pomfret’s gripping account of the 1990 cliffhanger in Iraq is just the beginning of the tale about intelligence cooperation between Poland and the United States, cooperation that one CIA director would later describe as “one of the two foremost intelligence relationships that the United States has ever had.” Pomfret uncovers new details about the CIA’s black site program that held suspected terrorists in Poland after 9/11 as well as the role of Polish spies in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

In the tradition of the most memorable works on espionage, Pomfret’s book tells a distressing and disquieting tale of moral ambiguity in which right and wrong, black and white, are not conveniently distinguishable. As the United States teeters on the edge of a new cold war with Russia and China, Pomfret explores how these little-known events serve as a reminder of the importance of alliances in a dangerous world.

1138843588
From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance
From Warsaw with Love is the epic story of how Polish intelligence officers forged an alliance with the CIA in the twilight of the Cold War, told by the award-winning author John Pomfret.

Spanning decades and continents, from the battlefields of the Balkans to secret nuclear research labs in Iran and embassy grounds in North Korea, this saga begins in 1990. As the United States cobbles together a coalition to undo Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, six US officers are trapped in Iraq with intelligence that could ruin Operation Desert Storm if it is obtained by the brutal Iraqi dictator. Desperate, the CIA asks Poland, a longtime Cold War foe famed for its excellent spies, for help. Just months after the Polish people voted in their first democratic election since the 1930s, the young Solidarity government in Warsaw sends a veteran ex-Communist spy who’d battled the West for decades to rescue the six Americans.

John Pomfret’s gripping account of the 1990 cliffhanger in Iraq is just the beginning of the tale about intelligence cooperation between Poland and the United States, cooperation that one CIA director would later describe as “one of the two foremost intelligence relationships that the United States has ever had.” Pomfret uncovers new details about the CIA’s black site program that held suspected terrorists in Poland after 9/11 as well as the role of Polish spies in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

In the tradition of the most memorable works on espionage, Pomfret’s book tells a distressing and disquieting tale of moral ambiguity in which right and wrong, black and white, are not conveniently distinguishable. As the United States teeters on the edge of a new cold war with Russia and China, Pomfret explores how these little-known events serve as a reminder of the importance of alliances in a dangerous world.

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From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance

From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance

by John Pomfret
From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance

From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance

by John Pomfret

Paperback

$19.99 
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Overview

From Warsaw with Love is the epic story of how Polish intelligence officers forged an alliance with the CIA in the twilight of the Cold War, told by the award-winning author John Pomfret.

Spanning decades and continents, from the battlefields of the Balkans to secret nuclear research labs in Iran and embassy grounds in North Korea, this saga begins in 1990. As the United States cobbles together a coalition to undo Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, six US officers are trapped in Iraq with intelligence that could ruin Operation Desert Storm if it is obtained by the brutal Iraqi dictator. Desperate, the CIA asks Poland, a longtime Cold War foe famed for its excellent spies, for help. Just months after the Polish people voted in their first democratic election since the 1930s, the young Solidarity government in Warsaw sends a veteran ex-Communist spy who’d battled the West for decades to rescue the six Americans.

John Pomfret’s gripping account of the 1990 cliffhanger in Iraq is just the beginning of the tale about intelligence cooperation between Poland and the United States, cooperation that one CIA director would later describe as “one of the two foremost intelligence relationships that the United States has ever had.” Pomfret uncovers new details about the CIA’s black site program that held suspected terrorists in Poland after 9/11 as well as the role of Polish spies in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

In the tradition of the most memorable works on espionage, Pomfret’s book tells a distressing and disquieting tale of moral ambiguity in which right and wrong, black and white, are not conveniently distinguishable. As the United States teeters on the edge of a new cold war with Russia and China, Pomfret explores how these little-known events serve as a reminder of the importance of alliances in a dangerous world.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781250848802
Publisher: Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 10/18/2022
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John Pomfret, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, served as a correspondent for the Washington Post for two decades, covering wars, revolutions, and China. His recent book, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, won the Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations. The recipient of numerous journalism awards, he lives with his wife and three children in Berkeley, CA.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 Cold War Capers

Chapter 1 Tinseltown Espionage 5

Chapter 2 Tennis, Anyone? 13

Chapter 3 The American Bear 22

Chapter 4 True Confessions 33

Chapter 5 The Bridge of Spies 42

Part 2 An Unlikely Alliance

Chapter 6 Playing Footsie 57

Chapter 7 The Bear Comes Knocking 73

Chapter 8 Shall We Dance? 84

Chapter 9 Don't Blow It Up 98

Part 3 Perilous Partnership

Chapter 10 Baghdad Surprise 113

Chapter 11 No Exit 131

Chapter 12 Didn't Get the Memo 143

Chapter 13 The Floodgates Open 153

Chapter 14 Slouching Toward NATO 164

Chapter 15 The Prime Minister Is a Spy! 177

Chapter 16 Missing bin Laden 191

Chapter 17 Black Site Bargain 201

Chapter 18 Betrayed 212

Chapter 19 Under the Bus 224

Part 4 Marriage with Hippos

Chapter 20 Same Bed, Different Dreams 235

Chapter 21 What Is to Be Done? 242

Afterword 247

Notes 251

Bibliography 265

Acknowledgments 271

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