News and Reviews
“One of best spy stories” — Wash Post
By Joseph Kanon in The Washington Post: Let’s cut right to the chase: “The Billion Dollar Spy” is one of the best spy stories to come out of the Cold
“Cinematic” “engrossing tale”
From The New York Times: By Scott Shane In an era of suicide bombers and ISIS beheadings, the spy dramas of the Cold War can seem tame, almost polite affairs.
“Dramatic spy-vs.-spy story”
Los Angeles Times: By Bob Drogin One wintry night in early 1977, in the depths of the Cold War, a furtive man approached a CIA officer at a gas station
The National Book Festival
The National Book Festival: David E. Hoffman talks about the book Sept. 25, 2010.
New Reviews
Read more about The Dead Hand: The New York Times The Financial Times Arms Control Today: “stunning and authoritative” The Guardian: “magesterial, human, vividly readable” Also, see David E. Hoffman’s
Foreign Affairs Review
March/April 2010 A book that describes itself as an “untold story” should generally be met with skepticism, especially when it deals with the Cold War arms race, whose basic story
A huge story; an important book
This is an astonishing book. It is a reporter’s triumph; it tells an important and (as far as I know) absolutely unknown story. It is also suspenseful and well-written; John
The New York Times Review
Sept. 22, 2009 “What’s particularly valuable about Mr. Hoffman’s book… is the skill with which he narrows his focus (and his indefatigable reporting) down to a few essential areas. Thanks
The Washington Post Review
January 17, 2010 Hoffman’s book is a chillingly modern historical tale about a collective failure with lasting consequences. Chronicling the breakneck drive in the U.S.S.R. to develop methods for inflicting