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Pop culture vs reality
Films, series and books shape what we think about intelligence. Here we check them against the facts: what real case the plot was based on, what is accurate, what the makers simplified and what is fiction.
We do not judge artistic merit or award points for “accuracy”. We describe the real case on the basis of the records of intelligence services and courts and the work of historians, and what the film changed we report after the historians who have compared it with the sources.
film “Bridge of Spies”, USA and Germany 2015, dir. Steven Spielberg, screenplay by Matt Charman, Joel and Ethan Coen
“Bridge of Spies” (2015)
Steven Spielberg’s film about the exchange of the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel for the American pilot Francis Gary Powers. The real case is well documented, and the historian David Kaiser has compared the film with its main source – the memoir of the lawyer James Donovan.
feature film, Poland 2014, written and directed by Władysław Pasikowski
“Jack Strong” (2014)
Władysław Pasikowski’s film about Colonel Ryszard Kukliński, an officer of the General Staff of the Polish People’s Army (LWP) who passed Warsaw Pact documents to the CIA in the 1970s and 1980s. The course of the case is described by the IPN; an IPN historian judged the film a simplification that does not falsify history in its overall picture.
series, Israel, since 2015; created by Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff
“Fauda” (since 2015)
An Israeli series about a unit operating undercover among Palestinians in the West Bank. Its co-creator and lead actor Lior Raz served in such a unit; media scholars record both praise for its realism and the charge that it leaves out the everyday reality of the occupation.
series, France; creator and showrunner Éric Rochant
“The Bureau” (“Le Bureau des légendes”, 2015–2020)
Éric Rochant’s French series for Canal+ about a DGSE unit that prepares and runs agents who spend years abroad under false identities. The creators speak of an agreement with the DGSE to use its emblem and of realism “in principle” rather than in detail.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, 1st edn 2011; “Nielegalni” series, vol. 1
“Nielegalni” (The Illegals) – novel (2011)
The first volume of a series by Vincent V. Severski (Włodzimierz Sokołowski), a former Polish intelligence officer. The background and the realities of intelligence work are genuine, but the author makes clear that he does not reveal the names, dates or details of real cases – the novel is not an account of specific operations.
series, Poland 2018, Canal+, 10 episodes; dir. Leszek Dawid and Jan P. Matuszyński
“Nielegalni” (Illegals) – series (2018)
A ten-episode Canal+ series based on Vincent V. Severski’s cycle of novels, directed by Leszek Dawid and Jan P. Matuszyński. It adapts the books freely and does not tell any real case.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca; “Nielegalni” series, vol. 2
Vincent V. Severski: “Niewierni” (The Unfaithful; vol. 2 of the “Nielegalni” series)
The second volume of the series: Konrad Wolski’s team investigates a secret meeting in a Warsaw hotel, and the case leads from Yemen to Ireland and on to a Swedish hacker. The publisher speaks of inspiration from “real events”, but does not identify them.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca; “Nielegalni” series, vol. 3
Vincent V. Severski: “Nieśmiertelni” (The Immortals; vol. 3 of the “Nielegalni” series)
The third volume of the series: an operation in Tehran is meant to prevent an armed conflict, a quadruple murder takes place in Stockholm, and a quiet coup d’état unfolds in Moscow. The publisher does not claim that the plot is based on fact.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, 1st edn 2016 (e-book, ISBN 9788380154339); “Nielegalni” series, vol. 4
Vincent V. Severski: “Niepokorni” (The Defiant; vol. 4 of the “Nielegalni” series)
The volume that closes the series: after Mikhail Popovsky is spirited out of Russia, the protagonists return to Poland and discover that their secret department has been disbanded. They act outside the law against a conspiracy meant to change the global balance of power. The plot is fiction.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, Warsaw 2018, 1st edn, 523 pp.
Vincent V. Severski: “Zamęt” (Turmoil, 2018)
The novel that opens a series about “the Section”, a top-secret cell of the Foreign Intelligence Agency: a Polish businessman is kidnapped in Pakistan and turns out to be an intelligence agent. In the background are changes in Polish politics and a mole at the top of the service – all of it fiction.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, Warsaw 2019, 1st edition, 635 pp.
Vincent V. Severski: “Odwet” (“Retaliation”, 2019)
The sequel to “Zamęt” (“Turmoil”): the Foreign Intelligence Agency, corruption and a parliamentary election in Poland. The bibliographic record lists the themes; the publisher does not link the plot to any real case.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, Warsaw 2021, 1st edition, 822 pp.
Vincent V. Severski: “Nabór” (“Recruitment”, 2021)
The third volume of the Section series, in which the characters of “Zamęt” (“Turmoil”) and “Nielegalni” (“The Illegals”) meet. Iran and the United States edge towards war, and an authoritarian prime minister returns to power in Poland. Fiction set against the backdrop of current international politics.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, published 25–26 October 2023, 536 pp., ISBN 9788382528787; “Sekcja” (“The Section”) series, vol. 4
Vincent V. Severski: “Dystopia” (2023)
The fourth and final volume of the Section series: a GRU agent becomes deputy prime minister and coordinator of the special services, and the Foreign Intelligence Agency has been abolished. A novel about Russian infiltration of the government – entirely fictional.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, Warsaw, 18 May 2022, 1st edition, 567 pp.
Vincent V. Severski: “Plac Senacki 6 PM” (“Senate Square 6 PM”, 2022)
A thriller about the birth of Putin’s Russia: in October 1990 a Soviet submarine carrying a nuclear arsenal sails from a base in the far north, and MI6 sends an agent to Helsinki. The collapse of the USSR is real; the submarine and the operation are invented.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, 4 June 2025, 1st edition, 464 pp., ISBN 9788383824604
Vincent V. Severski: “Krawiec” (“The Tailor”, 2025)
A novel set in 2003, as Poland prepares to join the EU and preparations for an operation in Iraq are under way in secret: a Russian agent in Warsaw becomes involved with the nanny in the Prime Minister’s household. The background is real; the intrigue is invented.
feature film, Poland 2023, directed by Jan Holoubek, screenplay by Andrzej Gołda
“Doppelgänger. The Double” (2023)
Jan Holoubek’s film about two men living parallel lives on either side of the Iron Curtain. The filmmakers speak of inspiration from the true stories of officers of the Polish People’s Republic’s intelligence service who took over other people’s identities, but they do not point to any specific case.
film “The Coldest Game”, Poland 2019, directed by Łukasz Kośmicki, screenplay by Ł. Kośmicki and Marcel Sawicki
“The Coldest Game” (“Ukryta gra”, 2019)
Łukasz Kośmicki’s thriller in which a chess match in Warsaw during the Cuban Missile Crisis serves as cover for an intelligence operation. The crisis is a historical fact; neither the match nor the operation is confirmed by any of the sources we have found, and the director speaks of the Palace of Culture as his inspiration.
memoir; English edition “Aquarium”, Hamish Hamilton, June 1985 (translated by David Floyd)
Viktor Suvorov: “Aquarium”
The memoirs of a former officer of Soviet military intelligence, the GRU, about recruitment, training and work in a rezidentura abroad. It is one person’s account, written under a pen name: reviewers found its picture of GRU culture convincing, but some episodes cannot be verified.
a book of popular history and polemic; Polish edition: Editions Spotkania, Warsaw 1992
Viktor Suvorov: “Icebreaker”
A book by a former GRU officer who claims that Stalin was preparing an attack on Germany for the summer of 1941 and that Hitler struck first. Historians have argued over this thesis for years: most reject it, while some accept individual arguments.
novel “Le Montage”, 1982
Vladimir Volkoff: “The Set-Up” (“Le Montage”, 1982)
A novel about a Russian from Paris who, as a KGB agent, manipulates French intellectuals. It won the Grand Prix du roman of the Académie française; according to “Conflits”, it made the French more aware of disinformation techniques. The plot is fiction, not an account of any specific operation.
novel “Le Retournement”, Julliard – L’Âge d’homme, Paris 1979, 360 pp.
Vladimir Volkoff: “Le Retournement” (“The Turn-Around”, 1979)
A novel about a French intelligence officer who is supposed to recruit a KGB major in Paris – only for the major to defect to the West of his own accord after converting to Orthodoxy. A work of fiction in which, according to “Conflits”, the author shows techniques of intelligence and disinformation.
“Spisek założycielski. Historia jednego morderstwa” (The Founding Conspiracy: The Story of One Murder), roman à clef, Editions Spotkania
Piotr Wroński: “Spisek założycielski” (The Founding Conspiracy)
A roman à clef by a former intelligence officer about the murder of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko by officers of the Security Service (SB). The murder itself and the sentences are matters of judicial record; the responsibility of the top leadership of the Polish People’s Republic is the author’s interpretation.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, published 15.10.2026, 536 pp., ISBN 9788383829791
Robert Michniewicz: “Agent z Dubaju” (The Dubai Agent, 2026)
The second novel about Foreign Intelligence Agency officer Aleks Niwiński: in Dubai he is to make contact with an Iranian spy while a series of attacks links Riyadh, Houston and Warsaw. The author was an intelligence officer; the plot does not reconstruct any specific operations.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, published 12.03.2025, 480 pp.
Robert Michniewicz: “Agent z Rijadu” (The Riyadh Agent, 2025)
A novel about a Polish intelligence officer in Saudi Arabia who stumbles on a secret alliance between the Russian and Iranian intelligence services aimed at the oil market. The action begins in April 2022; the geopolitical background is real, while the attacks and the conspiracy are fiction.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca 2023, 424 pp., ISBN 9788382527247; “Partnerzy” (Partners) series, vol. 1
Robert Michniewicz: “Partnerzy. Początek” (Partners: The Beginning, 2023)
A former intelligence officer’s debut novel: in February 2022 Foreign Intelligence Agency officer Barbara Szymańska travels to the border with Ukraine to collect information from an agent inside the Russian government. The background – Russia’s attack on Ukraine – is real; the plot is invented.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, 14.08.2024, 344 pp., ISBN 9788381435086; “Partnerzy” (Partners) series, vol. 2
Robert Michniewicz: “Partnerzy. Zemsta” (Partners: Revenge, 2024)
The second volume of the series: two Foreign Intelligence Agency officers keep watch in the Canary Islands on a Polish minister who receives a lucrative offer from a foundation working for Russian intelligence. The theme of foreign services influencing politicians is real; the case itself is invented.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, published 13.11.2025, 408 pp., ISBN 9788383824956; “Partnerzy” (Partners) series, vol. 3
Robert Michniewicz: “Partnerzy. Finał” (Partners: The Finale, 2025)
The third and final volume of the “Partnerzy” (Partners) series about Polish intelligence officer Barbara Szymańska. The publisher describes it only in general terms, as a thriller about the line between truth and betrayal; it points to no specific real cases.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, published 27.03.2024, 656 pp., ISBN 9788382527308; Carl von Wedel series, vol. 1
Robert Michniewicz: “Dolina szpiegów” (Valley of Spies, 2024)
A novel about Abwehr captain Carl von Wedel, who in 1944 works for Polish intelligence. The author himself has set out what is real (the von Wedel family, the Abwehr school at Sulejówek, the SOE base at Tempsford) and what is invented (the protagonist, a secret school near Zakopane).
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, 23.04.2026, 464 pp., ISBN 9788383827391; Carl von Wedel series, vol. 3
Robert Michniewicz: “Fałszywa gra” (False Game, 2026)
The third volume of the Carl von Wedel series, taking the action back to 1938–1939: a Pomeranian aristocrat recruited by Polish intelligence joins the Abwehr. The background and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact are real; the protagonist and his network are invented.
novel, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, published 22.04.2015; “Szpiedzy” (Spies) series, vol. 1
Aleksander Makowski: “Bez przebaczenia” (Without Forgiveness, 2015)
The novel that opens the “Szpiedzy” (Spies) series: the death of a Pole in an apparent accident on a New York street draws the CIA, Mossad, a Polish colonel and a former SS man into a game. The author was an intelligence officer of the Polish People’s Republic in New York, as the IPN catalogue confirms; the plot is fiction.
“Tropiąc Bin Ladena. W afgańskiej matni 1997–2007” (Tracking Bin Laden: In the Afghan Trap, 1997–2007), Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, 18.06.2025, 440 pp., ISBN 9788383825854
Aleksander Makowski: “Tropiąc Bin Ladena” (Tracking Bin Laden, 2025)
Non-fiction: a former intelligence officer’s account of intelligence work in Afghanistan in 1997–2007. It is one side’s account; the files on these activities are not public, so it cannot be checked against documents.
● We describe the real case from records and scholarship, and compare it with the work only where a source has made that comparison.
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