This Is Not Propaganda

Adventures in the War Against Reality

By: Peter Pomerantsev

Narrated by: Matthew Waterson

"Learn how the perception of truth has been weaponized in modern politics with this "insightful" account of propaganda in Russia and beyond during the age of disinformation" (New York Times)

When information is a weapon, every opinion is an act of war.

We live in a world of influence operations run amok, where dark ads, psyops, hacks, bots, soft facts, ISIS, Putin, trolls, and Trump seek to shape our very reality. In this surreal atmosphere created to disorient us and undermine our sense of truth, we've lost not only our grip on peace and democracy -- but our very notion of what those words even mean.

Peter Pomerantsev takes us to the front lines of the disinformation age, where he meets Twitter revolutionaries and pop-up populists, "behavioral change" salesmen, Jihadi fanboys, Identitarians, truth cops, and many others. Forty years after his dissident parents were pursued by the KGB, Pomerantsev finds the Kremlin re-emerging as a great propaganda power. His research takes him back to Russia - but the answers he finds there are not what he expected.

Blending reportage, family history, and intellectual adventure, This Is Not Propaganda explores how we can reimagine our politics and ourselves when reality seems to be coming apart.

©2019 Peter Pomerantsev (P)2019 Hachette Audio

favorite book in a long time

stories were relevant to the main theme. the scary but relevant thesis wound it's way through each story and chapter, and was summarized perfectly in the implicit last paragraph of the book.

How populism wins with lies. Very important to read in today’s world.

This book is so refreshing because it is not opinion or a doctrine it is simply the facts of how the facts are disparaged and manipulated to maintain or install a power elite. Peter describes over and over again how fictions describing the absolute opposite to what is happening in front of our eyes have been a tool to coerce and blind masses of people. This practice has been perfected by Putin and has been learned by populous leaders all over the world. The next review, is an example of how pervasive it is. The reviewer actually believes that somehow revealing facts is a danger to democracy because he has been listening to the blabber sphere of the Trump orb. Gives the review of this important book a 1 star to discourage other people from learning the truth about the lies. This is Insidious and horrendous but these are the times we live in… Very much worth a read.

Must read!

One of the most important books to understand current (and historical) events and a very engaging book to listen to. Well written and well read!

An important book, chilling

In Everything is Possible he exposed the sophisticated information machinery in Russia,. Here he goes global.

It should have come as no surprise to me that media has been weaponized but it did. Worse, I was surprised how far along that effort is, and how clever.

For one example, by contradicting scientific fact with disinformation consumers can be encourage to question truth itself, and then rally behind a leader who confidently mocks it. Why face real problems when you can deny them?

There are troll farms and AI bots, and fabricated protests which provide nothing but theater. He gets inside these institutions and turns them inside out for us.

I highly recommend this book.

Like his previous book, it's expertly crafted ... and this narration is solid.

incredible book

Incredibly important book. I'll be referring to it over and over again to make sense of the modern social and political landscape.

Shocking and disturbing yet moving

A unique book, detailing the disinformation wars that are disintegrating societies and consciousness itself.. Interviews with fascinating personalities worldwide.

Pretty good follow up

His first book was remarkably engaging and I was hooked right away. This one took me longer and was not as eclectic or fun as the last one, but I learned a lot about how propaganda has changed significantly over the past decade or two. His mixture of personal stories and interviews with critical figures blends together seamlessly and creates a moving listening experience. Not a masterpiece, but a pretty great read.

Evil comes when one believes their own Lies.

A review requires at least fifteen words. I appear to be a little short. #

Great info

An amalgamation of lots of interesting information that's relevant for our times. That said, it felt a little rambly, like the author didn't have a concrete point to make. Still worth a listen though.

Profoundly Important

We are in a global war to uphold the ethic that the truth is essential to human dignity, our individual histories and identities. Even the concept of truth has been exploited to manipulate people for political gain, and the author worries that the exponential increase in pathways for information manipulation have made our global fight for truth even more difficult. Please ignore the other reviews that claim that this gets political… The fact that he mentions some of the “leaders“ that manipulate the truth is not political, it is critical to the point he’s trying to make.