World History

The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy

David Hoffman

About the Program

David Hoffman, former Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post, recounts the final decade of the Cold War and the nuclear and biological munitions that remained following the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Mr. Hoffman reports on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's disinterest in creating a Stars Wars program that would rival President Reagan's, the Soviet Union's foray into biological warfare, and the 'Dead Hand' a program that would automatically respond to a nuclear strike regardless of whether any Soviet leaders were alive to command it.   David Hoffman discusses his book at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC.

About the Authors

David Hoffman

David Hoffman is a contributing editor at the Washington Post where he was formerly a White House correspondent and Moscow bureau chief.  He is the author of The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia.


Buy the author's book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

Program Information

The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy

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Past Airings

  • Sunday, January 17th at 7pm (ET)
  • Saturday, January 16th at 11pm (ET)
  • Saturday, November 14th at 7pm (ET)
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