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Interview on NPR’s ‘Fresh Air’ with Terry Gross

When they were making a decision about carrying out some earth-shattering operation; they never had to consult anyone else. … They served as a reverberating echo chamber for their own shared certainties.

– Stephen Kinzer on NPR’s ‘Fresh Air’ with Terry Gross

The Brothers  reviewed by NPR, Boston Globe, Worcester Telegram

 “John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles were the forefathers of using covert operations to upset foreign governments — with the aim of overthrow…In The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War, journalist Stephen Kinzer examines their rise to power and how their personal relationship influenced their professional partnership.”

– National Public Radio [read full review | listen to interview with Stephen]

The Brothers

The Brothers

My new book is a joint biography of John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles, who led the United States into an unseen war that decisively shaped today’s world.

During the 1950s, when the Cold War was at its peak, two immensely powerful brothers led the United States into a series of foreign adventures whose effects are still shaking the world.

John Foster Dulles was secretary of state while his brother, Allen Dulles, was director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In this book, I place their extraordinary lives against the background of American culture and history. I use the framework of biography to ask: Why does the United States behave as it does in the world?