A veteran tiller in the field of national security, Weiner offers a well-written and provocative journey to this era’s perilous fight ... A gifted storyteller, he creates memorable portraits of the players ... The Folly and the Glory is brilliant. Weiner puts us inside a revanchist Kremlin, angry at its lost empire and happy to make Americans pay for it.
Tim Weiner’s The Folly and the Glory provides a sweeping, lively survey of the worldwide competition between the Soviet Union (and later, Russia) and the United States since the end of World War II ... The odds of doing justice, in a relatively short book, to such multitudinous and tangled events over 75 years are slim. Occasionally, Weiner slows his speedy stride through history for deeper probes into particular episodes, but one wonders why those, rather than others, merit case studies ... Weiner skillfully shows that subversion, the dissemination of disinformation and military interventions were standard fare in the competition between Moscow and Washington, and he enlivens his story with vivid portraits of the main characters. Readers looking for a quick overview of the Cold War will find The Folly and the Glory informative and entertaining. Nonetheless, some of Weiner’s claims are unpersuasive ... Sometimes, history and politics are more complicated than Weiner seems willing to allow.
... a fast-paced narrative of U.S.-Russia relations since 1945. The emphasis on 'political warfare,' however, is selective; the account unfolds episodically ... Weiner offers a significant contribution to the literature of U.S.-Russia relations with a book that emphasizes the asymmetry of American capacity for political warfare, currently consisting of effective cyber counterespionage. Highly Recommended.
Pulitzer Prize—and National Book Award—winning journalist Weiner brings heft to this account of U.S.-Russian political warfare ... In this fraught, globally consequential 2020 campaign season, one could hardly ask for a better explanation of how we landed here.
... unnervingly insightful ... Weiner’s uncomfortably convincing opinion is that the U.S. screwed up royally, rubbing Russia’s nose in their failures and proclaiming that democracy had demonstrated its superiority ... Weiner then delivers a dismaying account of the avalanche of hacking, disinformation, and social media manipulation that began in 2014 with the object of sowing dissention. The author astutely observes that this strategy involves keeping Trump in office, and there’s no doubt of Trump’s fervent and frightening subservience to the Russian leader. A gripping history of 75 years of Russian-American conflict with the dismal conclusion that we seem outmatched.
... colorful and richly detailed ... Weiner briskly relates a treasure trove of declassified material from the Cold War and draws on insider accounts to present a plausible portrait of the current state of affairs. Newshounds and espionage fans will be enthralled.
