Peter Pomerantsev is an author whose works are deeply rooted in the political and social climate of the post-Soviet world. His writing focuses on exploring the complex relationships between reality, propaganda, and information in the modern era. Through keen observation and an analytical approach, he reveals how our perception of the world is shaped and manipulated. Pomerantsev's style is characterized by its ability to bring complex themes to life and encourage readers to reflect on the nature of truth and power.
The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler: BBC R4 Book of the Week
304 pages
11 hours of reading
Summer 1941, Hitler and his allies rule Europe from the Atlantic to the Black Sea. But inside Germany, there is a notable voice of dissent, Der Chef, whose radio broadcasts skilfully question Nazi doctrine. What listeners don't know is that Der Chef is a fiction, a character created by the British propagandist Sefton Delmer. As Peter Pomerantsev uncovers Delmer's fascinating lost story, he is called into a wartime propaganda effort of his own: the global response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine.[Bokinfo].
* A TIMES and GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR * 'Quietly frightening.' Guardian 'Essential reading.' Irish Times 'Consistently chilling.' Herald 'Shocking and entertaining.' Daily Telegraph When information is a weapon, everyone is at war. We live in a world of influence operations run amok, a world of dark ads, psy-ops, hacks, bots, soft facts, ISIS, Putin, trolls, Trump. We've lost not only our sense of peace and democracy - but our sense of what those words even mean. As Peter Pomerantsev seeks to make sense of the disinformation age, he meets Twitter revolutionaries and pop-up populists, 'behavioural change' salesmen, Jihadi fan-boys, Identitarians, truth cops, and much more. Forty years after his dissident parents were pursued by the KGB, he finds the Kremlin re-emerging as a great propaganda power. His research takes him back to Russia - but the answers he finds there are surprising. 'The world's most powerful people are lying like never before, and no one understands the art of their lies like Peter Pomerantsev.' Oliver Bullough 'Through our current smog of smouldering bullshit, This is Not Propaganda shines a necessary, humane and dissident light.' Nick Rankin 'Far more than just another take on today's chaotic information wars, this book argues that we will have to understand how propaganda seeks to shape our deepest thoughts before we can confront it.' Anne Applebaum
A journey into the glittering, surreal heart of 21st century Russia: into the lives of Hells Angels convinced they are messiahs, professional killers with the souls of artists, bohemian theatre directors turned Kremlin puppet-masters, supermodel sects, post-modern dictators and oligarch revolutionaries. This is a world erupting with new money and new power, changing so fast it breaks all sense of reality, where life is seen as a whirling, glamorous masquerade where identities can be switched and all values are changeable. It is home to a new form of authoritarianism, far subtler than 20th century strains, and which is rapidly expanding to challenge the global order. An extraordinary book - one which is as powerful and entertaining as it is troubling - Nothing is True and Everything is Possible offers a wild ride into this political and ethical vacuum.
