Shadow State
Murder, Mayhem, and Russia's Remaking of the West
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Narrated by:
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Nicholas Guy Smith
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By:
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Luke Harding
About this listen
A thrilling account of how Russia is waging a hidden war against America and the West, using espionage, corruption, fake news, and KGB-style murder
March 2018. Two Russian assassins arrive in a provincial English city to kill a former officer from Russia’s GRU intelligence agency. His crime? Passing secrets to British spies. The poison? A lethal nerve agent, novichok. The attempted execution was a reminder - as if one were needed - of Russia’s contempt for international norms. The Soviet Union and its doctrine are long gone, but the playbook used by the Kremlin’s spies during that long confrontation with the West is back. And the underlying goal remains the same: to undermine democracy and exploit divisions within American and European society and politics.
Moscow’s support for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election has grown into the biggest political scandal of modern times. Its American players are well-known. In Shadow State, award-winning journalist and best-selling author Luke Harding reveals the Russians behind the story: the spies, hackers, and internet trolls. Harding charts how the Kremlin has updated Communist-era methods of influence and propaganda for the age of Facebook and Twitter, and considers the compelling question of our age: what exactly does Vladimir Putin have on President Trump?
Similar to those of the Cold War, Putin’s ambitions are truly global. His emissaries include oligarchs, bankers, lawyers, mercenaries, and agents of influence. They roam from Salisbury to Helsinki, Ukraine to Central Africa, London to Washington, DC. Shadow State is the singular account of how the Kremlin seeks to reshape the world, to divide the US from its European friends, and to remake America in its own dark and kleptocratic image. This is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand how our politics came to be so chaotic and divided. Nothing less than the future of Western democracy is at stake.
©2020 Luke Harding (P)2020 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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From the award-winning and acclaimed author of The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, From Warsaw with Love tells the epic story of how Polish intelligence officers forged an alliance with the CIA in the twilight of the Cold War. In 1990, soon after the Polish people voted in their first democratic election since the 1930s, the young Polish government sent a veteran spy, who’d battled the West for decades, to rescue six American officers trapped in Baghdad.
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Fascinating and well researched
- By wacek szymkowiak on 07-23-24
By: John Pomfret
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From Russia with Blood
- The Kremlin's Ruthless Assassination Program and Vladimir Putin's Secret War on the West
- By: Heidi Blake
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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The untold story of how Russia refined the art and science of targeted assassination abroad—while Western spies watched in horror as their governments failed to guard against the threat. Unflinchingly documenting the growing web of death on British and American soil, Heidi Blake bravely exposes the Kremlin's assassination campaign as part of Putin's ruthless pursuit of global dominance—and reveals why Western governments have failed to stop the bloodshed.
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Putin & Polonium; Oligarchs & FSB Assassins; Oh My
- By Michael J Canning on 01-09-20
By: Heidi Blake
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Kleptopia
- How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World
- By: Tom Burgis
- Narrated by: Tom Burgis
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In this real-life thriller packed with jaw-dropping revelations, award-winning investigative journalist Tom Burgis weaves together stories that reveal a terrifying global web of corruption. Glimpses of this shadowy world have emerged over the years. In Kleptopia, Burgis connects the dots. He follows the dirty money that is flooding the global economy, emboldening dictators, and poisoning democracies. From the Kremlin to Beijing, Harare to Riyadh, Paris to the White House, the trail shows something even more sinister: the thieves are uniting. And the human cost will be great.
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Lazy Journalism in long narrative form
- By Jeremy on 02-14-21
By: Tom Burgis
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MBS
- The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman
- By: Ben Hubbard
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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MBS is the untold story of how a mysterious young prince emerged from Saudi Arabia’s sprawling royal family to overhaul the economy and society of the richest country in the Middle East - and gather as much power as possible into his own hands. Since his father, King Salman, ascended to the throne in 2015, Mohammed bin Salman has leveraged his influence to restructure the kingdom’s economy, loosen its strict Islamic social codes, and confront its enemies around the region, especially Iran.
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Suffers from 'Objective Journalism' Syndrome
- By Anonymous User on 05-09-20
By: Ben Hubbard
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Exonerated
- The Failed Takedown of President Donald Trump by the Swamp
- By: Dan Bongino
- Narrated by: Dan Bongino
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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An explosive, whistle-blowing expose, Exonerated: The Failed Takedown of Donald Trump by the Swamp reveals how Deep State actors relied on a cynical plug-and-play template to manufacture the now-discredited Russiagate scandal. With the cutting analysis and insight he exhibited in his blockbuster bestseller Spygate: The Attempted Sabotage of Donald J. Trump, Fox News contributor Bongino exposes who masterminded the dangerous playbook to take down Trump, their motives, and how a plan filled with faked allegations backfired.
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So much potential, but failed miserably
- By G.G. on 10-01-19
By: Dan Bongino
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Active Measures
- The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare
- By: Thomas Rid
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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We live in the age of disinformation - of organized deception. Spy agencies pour vast resources into hacking, leaking, and forging data, often with the goal of weakening the very foundation of liberal democracy: trust in facts. Thomas Rid, a renowned expert on technology and national security, was one of the first to sound the alarm, even before the 2016 election. But this is not new. The story of modern disinformation begins with the clash between communism and capitalism after the Russian Revolution.
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Grounding book for COVID 19 Media
- By fjness on 05-12-20
By: Thomas Rid
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Spooked
- The Trump Dossier, Black Cube, and the Rise of Private Spies
- By: Barry Meier
- Narrated by: Kerry Shale
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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A Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist’s journey into a billon-dollar secret industry that is shaping our world - the booming business of private spying, operatives-for-hire retained by companies, political parties, and the powerful to dig up dirt on their enemies and, if need be, destroy them.
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Spoofed
- By Klutch Kargo on 06-07-21
By: Barry Meier
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In Deep
- The FBI, CIA, and the Truth about America's "Deep State"
- By: David Rohde
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Three-quarters of Americans believe that a group of unelected government and military officials secretly manipulate or direct national policy in the United States. This sweeping exploration examines the CIA and FBI scandals of the past 50 years - from the Church Committee's exposure of Cold War abuses, to Abscam, to false intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, to NSA mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden. It then investigates the claims and counterclaims of the Trump era, and the relentless spread of conspiracy theories online and on-air.
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Pure Propaganda
- By S Wilkey on 05-21-20
By: David Rohde
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To Start a War
- How the Bush Administration Took America into Iraq
- By: Robert Draper
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Even now, after more than 15 years, it is hard to see the invasion of Iraq through the cool, considered gaze of history. For too many people, the damage is still too palpable, and still unfolding. Most of the major players in that decision are still with us, and few of them are not haunted by it, in one way or another. Perhaps it's that combination, the passage of the years and the still unresolved trauma, that explains why so many protagonists opened up so fully for the first time to Robert Draper.
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If you’ve grown weary of the current GOP administration’s incompetence...
- By Marynelle on 09-04-20
By: Robert Draper
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Family of Secrets
- The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America
- By: Russ Baker
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 24 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre said that "words are loaded pistols". In the hands of Russ Baker, they are hydrogen bombs. On each and every page of his masterpiece, Family of Secrets, he explodes the myths and lies that powerful forces have perpetrated on the American consciousness. He digs beneath the surface in a form of journalistic archeology to reveal the hidden history of one of America's most powerful families, leaving no stone unturned.
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Still Relevant, Impossible to Put Down
- By Emilio Largo on 12-14-12
By: Russ Baker
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A Very Expensive Poison
- The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko and Putin's War with the West
- By: Luke Harding
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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On November 1, 2006, journalist and Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London. He died twenty-two days later. The cause of death? Polonium—a rare, lethal, and highly radioactive substance. Here Luke Harding unspools a real-life political assassination story—complete with KGB, CIA, MI6, and Russian mobsters.
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Cover-To-Cover, This'll Have You Mindblown!
- By Gillian on 02-03-17
By: Luke Harding
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Blood and Oil
- Mohammed bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power
- By: Bradley Hope, Justin Scheck
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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From award-winning Wall Street Journal reporters comes a revelatory look at the inner workings of the world's most powerful royal family, and how the struggle for succession produced Saudi Arabia's charismatic but ruthless Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS.
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Nothing New Here
- By Susie Takach Seligman on 09-10-20
By: Bradley Hope, and others
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Sinking in the Swamp
- How Trump's Minions and Misfits Poisoned Washington
- By: Lachlan Markay, Asawin Suebsaeng
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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An eyewitness account of Donald Trump's clown car of lieutenants and lackeys who have polluted the corridors of power with their unprecedented awfulness. Two of Washington's most meddlesome reporters take listeners on a deep dive into the murky underworld of President Trump's Washington, dishing the hilarious and frightening dirt on the charlatans, conspiracy theorists, ideologues, and run-of-the-mill con artists who have infected the highest echelons of American political power.
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Fascinating writing!
- By CBesserman on 02-28-20
By: Lachlan Markay, and others
What listeners say about Shadow State
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Sharon S
- 07-04-20
Excellent book, not a good reader performance
Luke Harding's research is always solid and I love how he writes. However, the reader of this important book couldn't bother to learn how to pronounce Russian names or Robert Mueller's last name. It is jarring to hear such bad pronunciations and very distracting.
Great to hear Steele's response to the last few years and as we know now Trump was OK with US soldiers being killed by the Taliban for Russian bounties all of this book makes sense.
Well worth the wait.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Jonathan
- 07-20-20
The reader is mispronouncing words!
I have never heard the GRU, Russian military intelligence pronounced as "grew" before. It's always spelt out as G-R-U like KGB. The producer should have picked this up. Just as annoying is the pronunciation of Robert Mueller's surname. It may look like "Mewler" but Robert Mueller says is "Mull-er" so this fanciful pronunciation is incredibly irritating - it's not like we haven't all heard it said correctly thousands of times for three years. Also many of the Russian names are incorrect and told in a slapdash way. That this could happen with an important book by a major author is truly head-scratching. Very unprofessional, this book should be rerecorded properly. These details are incredibly important to get right, it's really setting my teeth on edge and I've only just started.....
Halfway through and the "Grew" for GRU is just as irritatiing. Does Nicholas Guy Smith the reader just make up whimsical pronunciations for fun? He actually refers to FIFA as "fyffer". He's English, he knows this is not how you prounce FIFA, he's a quite experienced reader as well so he has no excuse PLUS the producer should have said something, it's real amateur hour. Perhaps he is being held hostage and is trying to tell us something with his bizarre proununciations.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Donald Harvey Marks
- 06-05-22
Engaging history of Russian subversion
Excellent and engaging history of Russian subversive activities in the west. Lots of detail with interesting information for everybody who has an interest in that area. Of course it is better to know all these things, but hard to remember
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- Victoria Eriksson
- 10-24-21
Luke Harding is a great journalist
This is the 2nd book of Harding's I've read, he's a brave and brilliant journalist. He can make complex information easy and fascinating to take in. Important for anyone anywhere who wants to understand Putin's kleptocratic regime and global malfeasance.
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- LAMA
- 11-15-20
Thorough
As always, Luke Harding brings it.
Thorough review with historical context of how Russia has destabilized western governments using his KGB training and it is a continuing national security issue around the world.
I don’t agree with other reviews about the performance though. I thought the narrator performed brilliantly. His voice was pleasant and understandable with good pacing. Many people are unaware of the many differences between the Queen’s English and American English pronunciations. Plus the number of Russian names in this book must be close to a hundred and I am not sure I could have done better without taking a Russian language course.
I have heard Robert Mueller’s name pronounced differently in the US so that didn’t bother me in the least.
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- Suzanne Dallimore
- 07-20-20
The Most Dangerous Threat to Western Democracy
Every voting citizen of the United States and Great Britian should read this book. Luke Harding shows us in irrebuttable detail how Russia's Putin orchestrated the rise to power of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, and the Brexit vote's success. Putin's goal is no less than the destruction of western democracy. Putin, whose agents committed murder on British sovereign soil, will not rest until America and the UK are too weak to resist. Then Russia will move to retake those EU countries not already lost to xenophobic, populist strongmen.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Laura
- 02-08-24
Good
Solid work and appreciate the perspective from all fronts. The connection between actors is incredible and interesting.
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