by Jonathan Haslam ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 25, 2015
A well-executed narrative of the mechanics behind the Cold War that may be a bit too dense and/or dry for casual readers.
Intensely detailed history of the Russian spy services, from the revolution through glasnost.
Haslam (History of International Relations, Cambridge Univ.; Russia’s Cold War: From the October Revolution to the Fall of the Wall, 2011, etc.) focuses on myriad individuals who rose and fell within the competing factions of Russia’s spy services after 1917. As the communists had to build an intelligence structure from scratch, under assault from czarist remnants and neighboring states, they developed a simple system of “illegal” (covert) or “legal” (diplomatic) rezidenturas posted abroad in both political and military intelligence, divisions kept separate and subject to meddling by a paranoid Stalin. Haslam portrays the first generation of Soviet spies as colorful, tough zealots, largely liquidated during the terror of 1937-1938. The author argues that the Russians were only able to survive the German onslaught of 1941 due to their success in purloining intelligence from the British—notably from Kim Philby’s infamous circle. After the war, a pattern developed of the Soviets lagging in technological fields like cryptolinguistics yet countering Western espionage with superior human intelligence. “Berlin held centre stage in the Cold War for many years,” writes Haslam, “but the United States was always the principal objective.” Yet the endgame proved swift: when the Reagan administration ramped up military spending, “the two rival services, the KGB and GRU, failed to do what was vitally necessary in terms of evaluation” of the apparent military threat, ultimately leading to the fall of the Soviet Union. Haslam concludes by observing how, with Vladimir Putin’s ascendancy, “the history of the Soviet intelligence services thus becomes…a vantage point into the story of the present.” The author writes authoritatively, deftly managing his labyrinth of ruthless personalities, but the large historical canvas can be overwhelming.
A well-executed narrative of the mechanics behind the Cold War that may be a bit too dense and/or dry for casual readers.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-21990-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
HISTORY | MODERN | WORLD | GENERAL HISTORY
Share your opinion of this book
by Tom Clavin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2020
Buffs of the Old West will enjoy Clavin’s careful research and vivid writing.
Rootin’-tootin’ history of the dry-gulchers, horn-swogglers, and outright killers who populated the Wild West’s wildest city in the late 19th century.
The stories of Wyatt Earp and company, the shootout at the O.K. Corral, and Geronimo and the Apache Wars are all well known. Clavin, who has written books on Dodge City and Wild Bill Hickok, delivers a solid narrative that usefully links significant events—making allies of white enemies, for instance, in facing down the Apache threat, rustling from Mexico, and other ethnically charged circumstances. The author is a touch revisionist, in the modern fashion, in noting that the Earps and Clantons weren’t as bloodthirsty as popular culture has made them out to be. For example, Wyatt and Bat Masterson “took the ‘peace’ in peace officer literally and knew that the way to tame the notorious town was not to outkill the bad guys but to intimidate them, sometimes with the help of a gun barrel to the skull.” Indeed, while some of the Clantons and some of the Earps died violently, most—Wyatt, Bat, Doc Holliday—died of cancer and other ailments, if only a few of old age. Clavin complicates the story by reminding readers that the Earps weren’t really the law in Tombstone and sometimes fell on the other side of the line and that the ordinary citizens of Tombstone and other famed Western venues valued order and peace and weren’t particularly keen on gunfighters and their mischief. Still, updating the old notion that the Earp myth is the American Iliad, the author is at his best when he delineates those fraught spasms of violence. “It is never a good sign for law-abiding citizens,” he writes at one high point, “to see Johnny Ringo rush into town, both him and his horse all in a lather.” Indeed not, even if Ringo wound up killing himself and law-abiding Tombstone faded into obscurity when the silver played out.
Buffs of the Old West will enjoy Clavin’s careful research and vivid writing.Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21458-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Share your opinion of this book
More by Tom Clavin
BOOK REVIEW
by Tom Clavin
BOOK REVIEW
by Tom Clavin
BOOK REVIEW
by Bob Drury & Tom Clavin
by Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2018
The value of this book is the context it provides, in a style aimed at a concerned citizenry rather than fellow academics,...
A provocative analysis of the parallels between Donald Trump’s ascent and the fall of other democracies.
Following the last presidential election, Levitsky (Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America, 2003, etc.) and Ziblatt (Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, 2017, etc.), both professors of government at Harvard, wrote an op-ed column titled, “Is Donald Trump a Threat to Democracy?” The answer here is a resounding yes, though, as in that column, the authors underscore their belief that the crisis extends well beyond the power won by an outsider whom they consider a demagogue and a liar. “Donald Trump may have accelerated the process, but he didn’t cause it,” they write of the politics-as-warfare mentality. “The weakening of our democratic norms is rooted in extreme partisan polarization—one that extends beyond policy differences into an existential conflict over race and culture.” The authors fault the Republican establishment for failing to stand up to Trump, even if that meant electing his opponent, and they seem almost wistfully nostalgic for the days when power brokers in smoke-filled rooms kept candidacies restricted to a club whose members knew how to play by the rules. Those supporting the candidacy of Bernie Sanders might take as much issue with their prescriptions as Trump followers will. However, the comparisons they draw to how democratic populism paved the way toward tyranny in Peru, Venezuela, Chile, and elsewhere are chilling. Among the warning signs they highlight are the Republican Senate’s refusal to consider Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee as well as Trump’s demonization of political opponents, minorities, and the media. As disturbing as they find the dismantling of Democratic safeguards, Levitsky and Ziblatt suggest that “a broad opposition coalition would have important benefits,” though such a coalition would strike some as a move to the center, a return to politics as usual, and even a pragmatic betrayal of principles.
The value of this book is the context it provides, in a style aimed at a concerned citizenry rather than fellow academics, rather than in the consensus it is not likely to build.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6293-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
Share your opinion of this book
More by Steven Levitsky
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.