Question about Alan Furst's "Night Soldiers" books

I've heard great things about Alan Furst but never read one of his books. I recently bought a copy of Midnight in Europe, only to see when I added it it to my LT library that it's #18 in the Night Soldiers series. My question: is this really a series that one needs to read from the beginning or are the books more or less stand-alone?

So far I've only read 3 of them but they have all been totally stand-alone novels. A completely new set of characters for each. Maybe some minor characters show up here and there but don't have an effect on the plot. There are a couple of books within the main series that do seem to buck this trend but the one you have is not one of those. I'd say you're safe enough with reading as is.

Going back a few years but the author was involved in a chat about his work which you can read here.

>2 AHS-Wolfy: Thanks!

I have also read two or three of them and my overall impression is that they are mostly standalone books, although some secondary characters may carry over from one to another. However, I think there are a couple of mini-series within the overall sequence where one book is a direct sequel to another--for instance, I believe that Red Gold is more or less a sequel to The World at Night.

Alan Furst's WW2 books are all stand-alones, you can read them in almost any order. Each novel is a self-contained story with its own central characters - there's a scattering of overlap and recurring events which feel as if the author inserted them to reward his most faithful readers.
Grouping them together as a 'night soldiers' series seems to be a publisher's marketing ploy more than anything else.
As a long-time admirer of his books, I prefer the earlier ones. Dark Star and Red Gold are particularly excellent.
The two most recent are rather less accomplished, especially the current one, A Hero Of France. It has all the nuts and bolts in the right places, but much of the grit and authenticity are lacking. Maybe he's writing them too fast now, or his publishers might have asked for something 'more commercial'.
Anyway, try ones from five or more years ago - The Polish Officer maybe - for the best example of his authentic atmosphere.

The books do not need to be read in order because with one exception, they aren't direct sequels and don't feature the same characters as the protagonists. Even the one that repeats, I ended up reading the second book with Cason before the first one and it didn't make as much difference as I thought it would. What mostly connects the books are mentions of certain events -- a bullet hole in a certain brasserie in Paris makes a number of appearances, including when it happened -- and a minor character pops up in at least a couple of books. Otherwise, they cover different countries, different times within the scope of WWII, and together they knit together a tapestry of spying during WWII. I have 2 more to go before I'm all caught up with the series, and I've loved every one of his books I've read.

I recently read A Hero of France. This was the first book I have read of this author, but will be looking for more. It is good to see that it will not matter what order they are read.

Well, I'm now finally starting Midnight in Europe. Thanks to all who offered responses to my original question.