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From Cold War to Hot Peace
- An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins
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Publisher's summary
In 2008, when Michael McFaul was asked to leave his perch at Stanford and join an unlikely presidential campaign, he had no idea that he would find himself at the beating heart of one of today's most contentious and consequential international relationships. As President Barack Obama's adviser on Russian affairs, McFaul helped craft the United States' policy known as "reset" that fostered new and unprecedented collaboration between the two countries. And then, as US ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, he had a front-row seat when this fleeting, hopeful moment crumbled with Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency. This riveting inside account combines history and memoir to tell the full story of US-Russia relations from the fall of the Soviet Union to the new rise of the hostile, paranoid Russian president. From the first days of McFaul's ambassadorship, the Kremlin actively sought to discredit and undermine him, hassling him with tactics that included dispatching protesters to his front gates, slandering him on state media, and tightly surveilling him, his staff, and his family.
From Cold War to Hot Peace is an essential account of the most consequential global confrontation of our time.
Critic reviews
“This is an indispensable book for understanding the threat our country faces from Vladimir Putin’s Russia. McFaul is a candid and insightful guide to the history, personalities, and politics that continue to shape one of America’s most consequential relationships.” (Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Secretary of State under Barack Obama (2009-2013))
"Mike McFaul has lived history. In this terrific book, he recounts a pivotal time in U.S.-Russian relations, bringing the perspective of a central participant and one of America's finest scholars of Russian politics. This book will be valued by students, experts, historians and diplomats for years to come. It is a good read and an invaluable contribution at a crucial time." (Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State under George W. Bush (2005-2009))
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Story
On Christmas, 1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to declare an American victory in the Cold War: Earlier that day Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned as the first and last Soviet president. The enshrining of that narrative, one in which the end of the Cold War was linked to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the triumph of democratic values over communism, took center stage in American public discourse immediately after Bush's speech and has persisted for decades. As Serhii Plokhy reveals, the collapse of the Soviet Union was anything but the handiwork of the US.
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Full of Holes; Horrid Narrator
- By Donald on 03-02-23
By: Serhii Plokhy
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Restricted Data
- The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States
- By: Alex Wellerstein
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on troves of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time through the author's efforts, Restricted Data traces the complex evolution of the US nuclear secrecy regime from the first whisper of the atomic bomb through the mounting tensions of the Cold War and into the early 21st century. A compelling history of powerful ideas at war, it tells a story that feels distinctly American: rich, sprawling, and built on the conflict between high-minded idealism and ugly, fearful power.
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Alright. Some interesting facts
- By Dustin C. on 07-28-24
By: Alex Wellerstein
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Atoms and Ashes
- A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents—Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima—Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances.
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This was a pretty sensational and biased book.
- By J. Seawright on 06-11-22
By: Serhii Plokhy
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The Button
- The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump
- By: William J. Perry, Tom Z. Collina
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Written in an accessible and authoritative voice, The Button reveals the shocking tales and sobering facts of nuclear executive authority throughout the atomic age, delivering a powerful condemnation against ever leaving explosive power this devastating under any one person's thumb.
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Garbage political tripe
- By Bryan Beaty on 03-15-21
By: William J. Perry, and others
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The Secret World
- A History of Intelligence
- By: Christopher Andrew
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 37 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The history of espionage is far older than any of today's intelligence agencies, yet the long history of intelligence operations has been largely forgotten. In this audiobook, distinguished historian Christopher Andrew recovers much of the lost intelligence history of the past three millennia - and shows its relevance today.
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Very interesting history but biased
- By Thor Olson on 10-09-18
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The Economic Weapon
- The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War
- By: Nicholas Mulder
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Economic sanctions dominate the landscape of world politics today. First developed in the early twentieth century as a way of exploiting the flows of globalization to defend liberal internationalism, their appeal is that they function as an alternative to war. This view, however, ignores the dark paradox at their core: designed to prevent war, economic sanctions are modeled on devastating techniques of warfare.
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History of sanctions during the early 20th century
- By Mehdi Mollahasani on 03-05-22
By: Nicholas Mulder
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Putin's World
- Russia Against the West and with the Rest
- By: Angela Stent
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Putin's World examines the country's turbulent past, how it has influenced Putin, the Russians' understanding of their position on the global stage and their future ambitions—and their conviction that the West has tried to deny them a seat at the table of great powers since the USSR collapsed.
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More like The West against the world
- By Felis N on 01-18-20
By: Angela Stent
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Hitler's True Believers
- How Ordinary People Became Nazis
- By: Robert Gellately
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Understanding Adolf Hitler's ideology provides insights into the mental world of an extremist politics that, over the course of the Third Reich, developed explosive energies culminating in the Second World War and the Holocaust. Too often the theories underlying National Socialism or Nazism are dismissed as an irrational hodgepodge of ideas. Yet that ideology drove Hitler's quest for power in 1933, colored everything in the Third Reich, and transformed him, however briefly, into the most powerful leader in the world.
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Fascinating listen
- By Amy Neff on 12-15-22
By: Robert Gellately
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George F. Kennan
- An American Life
- By: John Lewis Gaddis
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hilgartner
- Length: 31 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on extensive interviews with George Kennan and exclusive access to his archives, an eminent scholar of the Cold War delivers a revelatory biography of its troubled mastermind. This is a landmark work of history and biography that reveals the vast influence and rich inner landscape of a life that both mirrored and shaped the century it spanned.
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Kennan: a man who needs to be studied
- By Muttering Beduwen on 06-10-12
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The Cold War
- A New History
- By: John Lewis Gaddis
- Narrated by: Jay Gregory, Alan Sklar
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on new and often startling information from newly opened Soviet, Eastern European, and Chinese archives, this thrilling account explores the strategic dynamics that drove the Cold War, provides illuminating portraits of its major personalities, and offers much fresh insight into its most crucial events. Riveting, revelatory, and wise, it tells a story whose lessons it is vitally necessary to understand as America once more faces an implacable ideological enemy.
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WOW
- By Cordell eddings on 10-13-07
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The Making of the Atomic Bomb
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 37 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Here for the first time, in rich human, political, and scientific detail, is the complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly - or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity, there was a span of hardly more than 25 years.
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Beware limitations of the reader
- By JFanson on 01-01-19
By: Richard Rhodes
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Collapse
- The Fall of the Soviet Union
- By: Vladislav M. Zubok
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1945, the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong, 5,000 nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward, the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the 20th century.
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Hopefully Not Prescient
- By Joshua on 01-29-22
What listeners say about From Cold War to Hot Peace
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Carole Williams
- 09-30-18
Disappointing
Informative about US/Russia relations, but I found the presentation belligerent, giving McFaul a mantel of self-centeredness.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Rob
- 08-31-18
Balanced and Knowledgable
Post-Trump there is a worrying amount of prople making wild speculation on equally worrying facts. Something big is going on in Russia, but we're stuck with pundits making baseless claims about how half of the US was brainwashed by Putin himself. This book is essential for getting a more knowledgable insight into what is actually going on from someone who has actually been on the ground. The details about Russian influence will be boiled down to facts in time, and until then this look at the events leading up to this point can help one put those facts into context. The author is clearly pro-democracy like most of us, but he eyes the other side with a level headedness rather than seeing Bond villains under every rock. Buy this book to understand US/Russian relations.
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- Mahesh
- 08-06-24
A realist
A good read. A realist liberal who prioritizes American interests rather than morals and hard truths.
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- Matt
- 01-11-19
Exceptionally written from a unique perspective
Facinating complication of unique experiences from Michael McFaul during a time of ups and downs of U.S. - Russian relations.
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- Danielle
- 01-29-19
Super informative and interesting.
Full overview & analysis of US/ Russia relations for last 30 years. McFaul is a true Russia expert.
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- Michael Moore
- 09-13-18
How "Reset" Worked until Putin Blew It Apart
Excellent account of the challenges and disappointments in dealing with Russia since the fall of the USSR. Mr. McFaul specialized in Russia as a professor at Stanford, lived in Russia during the time of the collapse of the USSR and was active in encouraging democratic reform in Russia. He has great fondness for the country and its people.
After service in the Obama White House, where he was one of the policy leaders driving a number of successes in improving relations with Russia during the Medvedev presidency, he then took the post as US Russian Ambassador. Unfortunately, this was the time when Putin re-took the Russian presidency and pursued a policy of confrontational policies with the West and repressive policies against democratic reform in Russia. McFaul describes all of this with the context of an able historian but with the added benefit of his personal experience in Russia and with Russian government figures.
The personal experience includes the harassment he and his Embassy staff were subjected to by the secret police and the nasty propaganda campaign that the Putin government waged against him in the public media during his time as Ambassador. It all makes for a vivid and fascinating story. Highly recommend this book for gaining a much deeper appreciation for the complexities and difficulties in our relations with Russia.
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- J.B.
- 08-03-18
From Russia With Love
From Cold War to Hot Peace, An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia, written by Michael McFaul, and read by L. J. Ganser. This is a wonderful and complete retelling of international foreign policy during the Obama presidency. You learn how issues become the focus of an administration, at least those issues in which Professor McFaul was involved, how the problems are defined, and how those delineations depend more on the prior learning or experience of the president and his experts rather than some mathematical formula. Hint: Learn the meaning of the word gestalt before you take on this read.
Now, my recommendation is not to purchase and read (listen) to the book unless you are a learned and avid political scientist or international historian with an interest in inter-nation dealings. This is not a titillating book in and of itself. This is though, a truly learned outlay of what happened, why, what worked, and what did not.
The subject matters covered were, Prof. McFaul’s education and early professorial years, the Russian Reset at the beginning of the Obama presidency, the Arab Spring, the Libya conflict, Prof. McFaul’s return to Russia as Ambassador, Russian civic unrest, Putin’s return to the Russian Federacy presidency, the taking of Crimea and the unrest in the Ukrainian, in almost all those reviews, not only do we get a readout on Obama’s actions and thoughts, but we also get a readout on Putin’s position, and a deep set of suppositions as to what might have been Putin’s thoughts and perspective; as well as his objectives. I found particularly interesting, how Putin filled the Russian people, with venality with which Putin poisons the Russian people with hatred for others. Something like our present presidency here in the U.S., but in Putin’s case he controls all forms of information to his people. Fascinating. Oh yes, and there is a long discussion on Professor McFaul’s use of social media, including Twitter, a never before used diplomatic tool was a kick.
I came to this book having great respect for the analysis of Professor McFaul. After the read, my appreciation of his gift of political analysis has only increased. He put the book together as a story, which does not read like a novel, but rather a history of his interchange with Russia and its beloved people. It is an analysis of what happened and perhaps why.
At the end of the book, a little over one hour of reading, Professor McFaul provides a wrap up of what is the status of U.S. Russian affairs, how we got here, what should we do from here. Those of you that have followed the Professor will be surprised at his new-found perspective. The book is worth reading (if you are a political science nerd). Its last hour plus is essential if you want to know where we go from here in U.S. vs. Russia. Nevertheless, I still intend to re-read all my Dostoyevsky.
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18 people found this helpful
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- Kalutha
- 08-13-18
A Personal and Historical View of Putin's Russia
I wanted to listen to this book as a result of Putin's request at the Helsinki summit for several Americans to be "interviewed," with McFaul among them. This is a very detailed account of recent decades in Russia, by a person who has been involved in the promotion of democracy there, and who was ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration. I learned a lot about the reasons why the movement toward democracy in Russia did not last, about Putin's rise to power, about his belief system/paranoia, and about several historical events in recent decades, including the annexation of Crimea, the invasion of Ukraine, etc. This book is most appropriate for people who are history buffs, and who want to know the inner workings of certain aspects of government and diplomacy. The book is quite detailed, and not every listener will want to hear this much detail, I would imagine. As a result of listening to the book, I developed tremendous respect for the author and his dedication to working toward the development and support of democracy. The narrator is quite good. There are numerous Russian names throughout the book, and although I don't speak Russian, his pronunciation sounded quite skilled. I am glad that I listened to the book in order to understand more about the current situation with Russia; I am listening to several books on this topic, and appreciated the fact that this one included a personal perspective.
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1 person found this helpful
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- kdh
- 04-24-19
Putin
This is a great source to understand Russia and Putin over the last 20 years to today. Putin is KGB and should not be trusted or believed. He will not change.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Tammie The Great
- 10-06-18
Michael McFaul
This book reminds us, Vladimir Putin has and never will be our friend. And even more important we must never allow Russians ie. Vladimir Putin the outrageous request to interrogate ANY American! He is a thug who kills anyone who speak against him. He even kills in other countries!
They can have Trump!
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2 people found this helpful