Soviet Leaders and Intelligence: Assessing the American Adversary during the Cold War
Description
Drawing on a plethora of sources, including decades of contact with senior Soviet figures, Raymond Garthoff offers the most authoritative assessment to date of how Soviet leaders and intelligence chiefs understood-and misunderstood-the United States during the Cold War.
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About the Author
Raymond L. Garthoff is a senior fellow (emeritus) at the Brookings Institution and served as US ambassador to Bulgaria and as a Cold War-era CIA analyst. His many books include A Journey through the Cold War, Détente and Confrontation: American-Soviet Relations from Nixon to Reagan, and The Great Transition: American-Soviet Relations and the End of the Cold War.
Reviews
Marvelous
There are very few people who can write about Soviet leaders' thinking and the role that intelligence played in shaping their views with the authority that Garthoff can and does in his new book. . . . [He takes] us beyond the available official and declassified record of how Soviet leaders and intelligence officers perceived and at times misperceived U.S. intentions and goals during the Cold War. . . . Fascinating . . . Nuanced, intriguging, and convincing. . . . Makes several important contributions to scholarship on the Cold War, intelligence studies, and international relations theory.
Raymond Garthoff is a towering figure in Cold War studies. . . . Garthoff provides invaluble insight into the bipolar world of the Cold War. . . . For every student of the Cold War, this small volume should be referred to frequently when reading any history of the Cold War. It is an indispensable resource . . . Teachers and scholars alike will benefit immeasurably, as it is useful both in the classroom and as an essential reference.
An outstanding book which could as well have the title 'everything you always wanted to know about the Soviet Union not understanding the United States during the Cold War, in five easy but very informative steps'.
Mr. Garthoff is uniquely qualified for such a study. . . . Much of his book is based on personal conversations with Soviet officials-including intelligence officers who spoke candidly about their own service-and declassified Soviet documents.
Garthoff's contribution is valuable because it places Soviet intelligence deficiencies in the context of state leadership and points to the need for additional comparative research on U.S.-Soviet leaders, perceptions, and intelligence. . . . Measured, insightful, and valuable to students of Cold War or espionage history.
A fascinating evaluation of the extent to which clandestine reporting influenced the Soviet leaders' approach to the [United States]. . . . Both rewarding for experienced readers and potentially useful for undergraduate teaching.
