Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
From Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Tim Weiner, a gripping, deeply contextual look at the development of political warfare between the US and Russia from the Stalin era to today
With vivid storytelling and access to insider accounts, Weiner sets out to trace the roots of Russian-American political warfare--conflict waged without weapons--over the last seven decades to understand how a president landed in the White House with the help of an expansive, covert Russian campaign. Russia's modern revival of Soviet-era intelligence operations constitutes one of the most significant threats to democracy in the United States and around the world, and yet the US has not engaged its own political warfare methods in defense, even as our own justice department has concluded unequivocally that Russia influenced the 2016 election.
To get to the heart of what's at stake and find potential solutions, Weiner examines long-running twentieth century CIA operations, political machinations by the Soviet KGB around the world, the erosion of American political warfare after the Cold War, and why twenty-first century Russia has returned to the practice while the US has not. Weiner takes us behind closed doors and into the deliberation rooms of past and present Russian and American intelligence operations that directly led to--and help illuminate--the current administration and the future of American democracy.
Synopsis
From Tim Weiner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, an urgent and gripping account of the 75-year battle between the US and Russia that led to the election and impeachment of an American president.
With vivid storytelling and riveting insider accounts, Weiner traces the roots of political warfare - the conflict America and Russia have waged with espionage, sabotage, diplomacy and disformation - from 1945 until 2020. America won the cold war, but Russia is winning today. Vladimir Putin helped to put his chosen candidate in the White House with a covert campaign that continues today. Putin's Russia has revived Soviet-era intelligence operations gaining ever more potent information from--and influence over--the American people and government. Yet the US has put little power into its defense. This has put American democracy in peril.
Weiner takes us behind closed doors, illuminating Russian and American intelligence operations and their consequences. To get to the heart of what is at stake and find potential solutions, he examines long-running 20th century CIA operations, the global political machinations of the Soviet KGB around the world, the erosion of American political warfare after the Cold War, and how 21st century Russia has kept the cold war alive. The Folly and the Glory is an urgent call to our leaders and citizens to understand the nature of political warfare - and to change course before it's too late.