Information Wars

A gripping insider account of the U.S. government's struggle to understand and fight back against a new generation of online threats from extremist messaging and Russian disinformation. As a celebrated journalist who moved into the frontlines of this fight, Richard Stengel sheds new light on how bad actors leverage technology to undermine trust, and helps us better understand what must be done to protect our democracy. -- Madeleine K. Albright Information Wars ought to be a wake-up call. The message is that open, democratic societies are in retreat. There's only one force powerful enough to save the day (one too little mentioned these days), and that's the readers and viewers who consume information. -- David Ignatius * Washington Post * With colorful behind-the-scenes stories and razor-sharp insights, Stengel provides the first insider report from the front lines of the disinformation wars waged by Russia and ISIS. At the heart of the struggle was the way the internet allowed people to weaponize grievances, as Donald Trump did in his campaign. Countering this trend is the most crucial challenge for our democracy and free society. Stengel shows how we've failed and what we can do in the future -- Walter Isaacson With the eye of a historian and the passion of a man in the arena, Richard Stengel has given us a compelling and illuminating memoir of his time at the highest levels in the fight against disinformation and for American values. Richly observed and thoughtfully rendered, Stengel's book is essential reading. -- Jon Meacham, author of THE SOUL OF AMERICA There is no man I admire more than Nelson Mandela. Rick Sten gel's wise and moving book captures the Nelson Mandela I have been privileged to know. But reading Mandela's Way gave me new insights and inspiration. -- President Bill Clinton on MANDELA'S WAY Mandela's Way is an electrically exciting, direct and vivid way of making greatness tangible, human and complex. Richard Stengel has honed all the elegance and lucidity of thirty years of brilliant cultural and political writing into a book to illuminate, to inspire-and to endure. -- Pico Iyer on MANDELA'S WAY

Richard Stengel was the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from 2013-2016. Before working at the State Department, he was the editor of Time magazine for seven years, from 2006-2013. From 1992 to 1994, he collaborated with Nelson Mandela on the South African leader's autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. Stengel later wrote Mandela's Way, a New York Times bestseller, about his experience working with Mandela. He is the author of several other books, including January Sun, a book about life in a small South African town as well as You're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery. He lives in New York.

0: Introduction 1: Welcome to State 2: Getting There 3: The Job 4: Information War 5: The Battle Is Engaged 6: Disruption 7: What to Do About Disinformation 8: Postscript 9: Acknowledgments 10: Notes 11: Index