Thirty-seven months ago, I decided to write a book.
Had I known what this process was like — the large pile of rejections, the endless revisions, the self-doubt, the bottomless supply of hustle required — I might not have even considered doing it. But I didn’t know, so here I am. Here it is. My book! If I were an Asian elephant, I could have given birth to two calves by now. But I’m a human writer, so instead there are a few thousand copies of parts of my brain and my heart in the world.
I spent three months on the ground reporting from Estonia, Georgia, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine, and the Netherlands over the course of writing and researching this book. I had planned to show you some of my photos from those reporting trips, but it turns out I mostly take pictures of street dogs. (This is an affliction for which I have sought treatment; sadly owning my own pooch the past seven years has not tempered it at all.)
I’m very grateful to everyone in all of those places — some of you subscribe to this newsletter, hi! — who took time out of their busy schedules to have a coffee (so much coffee) or a beer (let’s tip the scales in favor of beer next time) and speak candidly with me, and those of you who graciously allowed me to crash on your couches.
It feels trite to write that my book is “more important than ever,” but y’all, I do believe it. Back in October, when my publisher told me my publication date would be today, I was excited for the book’s alignment with the conventions U.S. political parties usually hold in July. Do we even know when, how, or if the conventions are happening now? I honestly don’t know the answer. But the prevelance and gravity of disinformation seems to have only grown weightier since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the social unrest gripping America.
This book has never been just about the U.S., and in fact, the most important lesson it drives home is that countries that embrace foreign disinformers’ tactics at home cannot successfully address the threat from outside their borders. It is a situation that has sadly become increasingly familiar here in Washington, and one we need to extract ourselves from soon if we have any hope of halting the rapid deterioration of our information ecosystem.
Thanks for sticking with me throughout this process. If you haven’t picked up your copy yet, you can do so pretty much anywhere books are sold, but here are some links: Bloomsbury, IndieBound, Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon, or my local Arlington bookshop, where I’ll personalize and sign a copy for you.
In case you missed it:
Excerpt from the book in POLITICO Magazine: “How an Anti-Trump Flash Mob Found Itself in the Middle of Russian Meddling”
Essay adapted from the book in UnHerd: “America is losing the information war”
An important piece I wrote with Cindy Otis about the dangers of Facebook Groups