Shadow State

The New York Times–bestselling journalist shares an eye-opening account of how Russia is waging a hidden war against America and the West.


The Soviet Union is gone, but the Kremlin's Cold War playbook of espionage, corruption, and murder is back. In Shadow State, award-winning journalist Luke Harding reveals how Russia deploys its spies, hackers and internet trolls to undermine democracy and exploit divisions within America and Europe. Harding charts how the Kremlin has updated Communist-era methods of influence and propaganda for the age of social media.


Shadow State is a singular account of how the Kremlin seeks to reshape the world, to divide the US from its European friends, and to remake America in its own dark and kleptocratic image. This is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand how our politics came to be so chaotic and divided. Nothing less than the future of Western democracy is at stake.


"Shadow State reads like a thriller and abounds with spies, dubious businessmen, politicians and crooks in various exotic settings." —Irish Times