This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality

Perhaps the most important global trend of the last few years has been the rise—and transformation—of information warfare. In the digital age, real military engagement matters less than how it is broadcast. The result is a constant deluge of lies, absurdity, and fear-mongering—a circus atmosphere created to disorient us and undermine any sense of truth.

In his signature style—by turns analytical, poetic, lurid, and funny—Peter Pomerantsev takes us on a Pynchon-like journey behind the enemy lines of the endless, multinational information war. He learns about the tactics of protesters in Serbia, narco-warlords in Mexico, Fox News hosts in America, and the KGB officer who forced his own family into exile. As he takes in these surreal yet important lessons, Pomerantsev ultimately looks to the future, asking how we might navigate this new reality and what a better form of democracy might look like.