'A stunning feat of research and narrative. Terrifying.' - John le Carre 'Authoritative and chilling ... a readable, many-tentacled account of the decades-long military standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union ... The Dead Hand is deadly serious, but this story can verge on pitch-black comedy - Dr. Strangelove as updated by the Coen Brothers.' - New York Times 'A brilliant work of history, a richly detailed, gripping tale that take us inside the Cold War arms race as no other book has. It's a story so riveting and scary that you feel like you are reading a fictional thriller.' - Rajiv Chandrasekaran, author of Imperial Life in the Emerald City 'An extraordinary and compelling story, beautifully researched, elegantly told, and full of revelations about the superpower arms race in the dying days of the Cold War. The Dead Hand is riveting.' - Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of An Army At Dawn

David E. Hoffman served for 27 years as a reporter and editor at The Washington Post. He covered the White House during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and was subsequently diplomatic correspondent and Jerusalem correspondent. From 1995 to 2001, he was Moscow bureau chief, and later foreign editor and assistant managing editor for foreign news.