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Victory

The Reagan Administration's Secret Strategy That Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

This explosive book chronicles why and how Ronald Reagan helped to bring down the Soviet Union. Based on exclusive interviews with key participants including Caspar Weinberger, George Schultz, John Poindexter, Robert McFarlane, and William Clark, Peter Schweizer provides the riveting details of how the Reagan inner circle undermined the Soviet economy—and its dwindling resource base—to subvert the Kremlin's hold on its global empire. Using secret diplomacy, the administration dramatically reduced Soviet income while simultaneously driving Moscow to expend an increasing amount of precious assets; they also provided covert aid to indigenous forces in Poland and Afghanistan to roll back Soviet power. In Victory, Schweizer presents a compelling argument for the Reagan administration's calculated strategy that is impossible to ignore.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Schweizer's subtitle succinctly presents his thesis: The Soviet Union did not just implode; on the contrary, the Reagan administration played a critical role in its demise. Schweizer's description of the role of the CIA, under William Casey, a central figure in this drama--as well as the roles of the National Security Council, Defense Department and State Department-- often reads like a Tom Clancy novel, complete with secret meetings, descriptions of weapons and tales of espionage. While the reader sometimes lacks the passion and partisanship of the author, overall Esmo's reading is quite good as he reads clearly and smoothly pronounces difficult names and places. M.L.C. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 4, 1994
      Beginning in 1982, according to the author, then President Ronald Reagan and his senior advisers mapped out a systematic strategy to hasten the demise of the Soviet Union by attacking its fundamental economic and political weaknesses. In a convincing, startling expose that reads like a spy thriller, Schweizer ( Friendly Spies ) draws on interviews with Caspar Weinberger, George Shultz, KGB generals, Politburo members, Reagan advisers and others to show how the Reagan administration used covert operations, hidden diplomacy, military build-up and policy maneuvers to exacerbate the Soviet crisis in natural resources, sow political discord and weaken the Soviet empire. The Reagan strategy, as revealed here, included restricting Soviet access to Western credit and technology, covert financial and logistical support to Poland's Solidarity movement and to the Czech underground, a campaign to slash Soviet hard currency earnings by driving down the price of oil with Saudi cooperation, and substantial covert aid to the Afghan resistance fighting the Soviet invasion.

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  • English

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