Assignment Russia

Marvin Kalb is a former senior adviser to the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a Harvard Professor emeritus, former network news correspondent at NBC and CBS, senior fellow nonresident at the Brookings Institution, and author of 16 other books, the most recent of which is the first volume of his memoirs, The Year I Was Peter the Great (Brookings).

• Contents:PrefaceAcknowledgments1. Joining a “Band of Brothers”2. CBS's “Specialist on Soviet Affairs”3. Broadcasting's One Thing, Writings Another4. A Book, a Documentary, and a New Idea5. “The Russians Are Coming”6. The Sino-Soviet Alliance: Mysteries, Puzzles, and Enigmas7. Around the World in 100 Days—Part One8. Around the World—Part Two9. A Dream Come True10. The Paris Summit: Ike vs. Nikita11. . . . And, Finally, Moscow12. Censors, Circuits, and Double Beds13. Bargaining with Bureaucrats14. The “Pigeon” Lost in My Pasternak Adventure15. “Do Svidaniia”16. Saying No to Murrow?Index

A fascinating memoir of Marvin Kalb's Cold War adventures as he sought to penetrate the mysteries of Nikita Khrushchev's Soviet Russia while building his career as one of broadcast journalism's legends."- Jack Matlock, U.S. ambassador to Russia (1987–1991);"Marvin Kalb's great new book Assignment Russia is a rollicking and engaging memoir that takes you to the front lines of the Cold War, to a mic in the early days of broadcast news, and into the mind and career of one of 'Murrow's Boys.' It's an important book from a legend in journalism, a book you can't put down."- Jake Tapper, CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent;"In Assignment Russia: Becoming a Foreign Correspondent in the Crucible of the Cold War, Kalb, now 90 years old, effectively transports the reader to a historical period that will soon be lost to living memory. His narrative offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the functioning of journalism and diplomacy in a three-year period when both were undergoing sea changes."- Kathryn J. McGarr, The Washington Post;"Kalb's fond, generous memoir, which vividly delineates a bygone era of early journalism, will appeal to students of 20th-century American history as well as aspiring broadcast journalists. The author was involved in many significant Cold War moments, and he brings us directly into that world. Hopefully Kalb is back at his desk; readers will be eager for the next volume."- Kirkus Reviews;"A nostalgic treat for older readers. . . a wake-up call for younger ones."- Edward Kosner, The Wall Street Journal;"Marvin Kalb's engaging Assignment Russia is like Hamilton's 'The Room Where It Happens.' It is a delightful narrative of Kalb's personal encounters with some of the most famous characters of the 1950s and 1960s, like CBS's legendary Edward R. Murrow, who hired Kalb, or Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who nicknamed him 'Peter the Great.' It is also an engrossing memoir of a foreign correspondent's adventures in the enemy camp during the Cold War. I loved it, I learned from it, and, I dare say, had fun reading it."- Lesley Stahl, co-anchor, CBS's 60 Minutes;"It is impossible to put this engrossing book down—it illuminates so many dark corners of the Cold War. With a master correspondent's insight, skepticism, sensitivity, and great clarity, Kalb brings vividly to life all the hopes and fears of the most consequential foe this nation has had."- Ken Burns, filmmaker