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Victory: The Reagan Administration’s Secret Strategy that Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union Kindle Edition

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 60 ratings

Did a secret American Strategy hasten the collapse of the Soviet Union?

Based on exclusive interviews with key participants, including Caspar Weinberger, George Schultz, John Poindexter, Robert McFarlane, and William Clark,
Victory chronicles how and why Ronald Reagan helped to bring down the Soviet Union.

In this explosive book, Peter Schweizer provides the riveting details of how the Reagan inner circle undermined the Soviet economy and its dwindling resource base, and subverted the Kremlin's hold on its global empire.

Using secret diplomacy, the administration dramatically reduced Soviet income while at the same time driving Moscow to expend an increasing amount of precious assets.

On another level, there was an American initiative to provide covert aid to indigenous forces in Poland and Afghanistan to roll back Soviet power.

Schweizer’s compelling and convincing argument on the Regan administration's calculated strategy is impossible to ignore.

Praise for Victory



“A convincing, startling expose that reads like a spy thriller“ –
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Americans need evaluations of their country’s Cold War strategy that go beyond sloganeering ... This is exactly what Peter Schweizer’s Victory provides.” —
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

“Victory is the result of exhaustive interviews with key strategists and leading chess masters of the Cold War's endgame. It chronicles the fascinating details of how one of the greatest empires on Earth was brought down almost exclusively by peaceful means.” —
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Peter Schweizer is a best-selling author and political consultant who completed his book as a media fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post and Breitbart.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01MDRF042
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lume Books (October 25, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 25, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1581 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 360 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 60 ratings

About the author

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Peter Schweizer
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Investigative journalist and author Peter Schweizer's most recent book, the #1 New York Times bestselling "BLOOD MONEY: How the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye to China Killing Americans," will shock Americans with the extent of China's hidden war on America. His books have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list eight times, including for "Red Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win," as well as "Profiles in Corruption," "Secret Empires," and "Clinton Cash," all bestsellers.

Peter founded the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) in 2012, Previously, he was a consultant to the Office of Presidential Speechwriting in the White House for President George W. Bush. He has also served as a member of the Ultraterrorism Study Group at the U.S. government’s Sandia National Laboratory and is a former consultant to NBC News. His books have been translated into eleven languages and he is a frequent guest commentator on television networks, radio talk shows, and podcasts. He is also the host of GAI’s own weekly podcast, The Drill Down, which relentlessly exposes cronyism and corruption in Washington.

Peter is also the author of the book Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets. Both Extortion and the preceding book, Throw Them All Out, were featured in segments on CBS’s 60 Minutes program.

His other nonfiction books include Reagan’s War (Doubleday, 2002), which the Washington Post praised as “a fascinating, well-written, useful and important look at one of the three or four most important American political leaders of the 20th century. No serious assessment of the 40th president of the United States can ignore the central importance of anti-communism in his career; after Schweizer none will.” The Los Angeles Times called it “A rousing and compelling case that Reagan’s personal and political odyssey…was central to bringing down the ‘evil empire.” He is also the co-author of The Bushes: Portrait of a Dynasty (Doubleday, 2004), which the New York Times called “Fascinating…Provides illuminating insights into the internal dynamics of the Bush family dynasty.” The New York Post declared “If you want to know as fully as can be told the story of how the Bushes rose from Midwestern obscurity to equal the records of families like the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, and the Adamses — this is the book.”

Other nonfiction works include Architects of Ruin (Harper, 2009) Victory (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1994) , Do As I Say (Not As I Do) (Doubleday, 2005), and Makers and Takers (Doubleday, 2008).

His academic books include Landmark Speeches of the American Conservative Movement (Texas A&M University Press, 2006) The Reagan Presidency: Assessing the Man and His Legacy (Rowman and Littlefield, 2005), and The Fall Of The Wall: Reassessing the Causes and Consequences of the End of the Cold War (Hoover Institution Press, 2000). He was also a contributor to Living in the Eighties (Oxford University Press, 2008)

His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Review, and elsewhere. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs.

Peter received his M.Phil. from Oxford University and his B.A. from George Washington University. He lives in Florida with his wife, Rhonda, and his children.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
60 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2023
I,as perhaps most Americans in those years were more concerned with high mortgage rates and the economy in the 1980's. The complexity of planning and execution of international policy and actions on the part of the US government was astounding, if more than a little concerning for the future.
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2020
This book argues that the United States won the Cold War largely because of the aggressive policies pursued by President Ronald Reagan. This book specifically points to the economic warfare waged against the Soviet Union, the American support given to Solidarity in Poland and the Mujahadin in Afghanistan, as well as the active campaign to persuade Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production and thereby drive down global oil prices as the policies that eventually brought the Soviet Union to defeat.

I found the author’s arguments persuasive. In addition, I found this book to be very well researched, including information based on personal interviews with many of the main players in this drama. What’s more, these interviews didn’t rely on a single person or a handful of interviewees, which means that the information gathered from interviews was corroborated by interviews with multiple others.

My one reservation about this book is that it seems to overlook several other key Cold War events during the Reagan Administration, including the Able Archer NATO exercise, which almost resulted in nuclear war; I would like to know what psychological impact this crisis had on the Soviet leadership. Or the connection between the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in 1986 and the downfall of the Soviet Union, as well as President Reagan’s speech at the Berlin Wall during which he said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about Reagan’s war against Communism, or simply how the Soviet Union lost the Cold War.
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2019
My Facebook Friend Peter Schweizer has written an excellent book which gives the full truth about Ronald Reagan’s lasting and meaningful contributions to the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War. Peter gives facts and perspectives routinely ignored by the leftists in academia and the so-called “mainstream” media alike (these pundits instead choose to heap all the credit upon Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the LOSER of the Cold War!!!).

I first read this book way back in the summer of 1995, in-between my sophomore and junior year at the USC School of International Relations, and I finally re-read it this year as one of my sources for a research paper in my Masters degree coursework, and the book proved very helpful, for which I’m quite grateful to Peter!
3 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2022
Although the author does discuss the role of foreign actors besides America in the demise of the Soviet Union, it fails in bringing to view the role these external actors played in installing Reagan into the White House in the first place.

What was the role of the Polish lobby in America in getting Reagan elected? What about the role of Saudi Arabia and Israel? Both of these nations had a vital interest in seeing the demise of the Soviet Union, and considerable wealth and influence to influence domestic American politics.

What about William Casey (Reagan's campaign manager), George H. W. Bush and the CIA? Did the CIA covertly influence domestic American politics and elections to get Reagan elected to the presidency, in contravention of American laws? Was the CIA itself heavily influenced or become a tool of these foreign lobbies?

Surely the external actors who had the intent, the means and the will to install a Hollywood actor such as Ronald Reagan into the White House, with the intention of waging a proxy war against the Soviet Union through him as their cats paw ought to receive greater credit than the cats paw itself?
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2019
I always bought into the line that the Soviet Union would have collapsed anyway and at best Reagan hastened their demise. Now I see that without Reagan attacking their economy and political stability on every front they would still be with us today. Sadly history does not give the man the credit he so richly deserves.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2019
Just reinforced for me the fact that Reagan was a visionary, principled president. To this day he hasn't gotten the credit he deserves for breaking up the Soviet Union.

The book was week written, if a little repetitive. Schweitzer has done his homework and presented his arguments clearly and persuasively.
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2019
Great, politically intriguing read !!
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2020
Impressive collection of information about the deliberate multifaceted strategy of the Reagan administration, from first-hand sources that give credit where credit is due. Bravo.

Top reviews from other countries

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Mario
5.0 out of 5 stars Victory: The Reagan Administration…
Reviewed in Italy on November 29, 2022
Libro molto interessante. Chiarisce, in modo molto argomentato, il contributo decisivo, sia militare sia economico, dato dall’amministrazione Reagan alla caduta dell’Unione Sovietica.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing research
Reviewed in Canada on July 29, 2020
It's one fact after the other, leaving no space for wondering, or speculation on "what if". An amazing research of one of the most efficient US Administration Cabinets.
Joseph
3.0 out of 5 stars これだけで判断するのは危険
Reviewed in Japan on September 9, 2021
「クリントン・キャッシュ」などの著作で知られるPeter Schweizerが「レーガンが2期8年の間に進めた対ソ強硬策と軍拡がソ連崩壊のスピードを速めた」との主張をレーガン政権メンバーやソ連政権関係者に行ったインタビューを基に論証する作品です。
とは言えインタビューは少し「弱い」です。まず、当のレーガンへのインタビューは行っておらず、レーガン政権へのインタビューもワインバーガー元国防長官、マクファーレン元安保大統領補佐官、シュルツ元国務長官、リーガン元財務長官などと言った「対ソ強硬派」や「ソ連懐疑派(ソ連との交渉の余地を探りつつもソ連とは慎重に接するグループ)」が中心です。また、「レーガンがソ連に経済戦争を仕掛ける秘密作戦を了承した」など政権メンバーへの証言も当人のインタビューだけが根拠で少し弱いです。
(発行時は1994年で公文書公開がほぼ不可能だったのもあるが)
とは言え「ソ連崩壊をレーガンの対ソ強硬路線と軍拡は成し遂げた」説に関心ある人は一読する価値があるでしょう
One person found this helpful
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Mike Cunynghame
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2017
VERY INTERESTING

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