Assignment Russia Becoming a foreign correspondent in the crucible of the Cold War

Marvin L. Kalb

Book - 2021

"In the book Kalb captures the excitement of being present at the creation of a whole new way of bringing news immediately to the public. And what news. Cold War tensions were high between Eisenhower's America and Khrushchev's Soviet Union. Kalb is at the center, occupying a unique spot as a student of Russia tasked with explaining Moscow to Washington and the American public. He joins a cast of legendary figures along the way, from Murrow himself to Eric Severeid, Howard K. Smith, Richard Hottelet, Charles Kuralt, and Daniel Schorr among many others. He finds himself assigned as Moscow correspondent for CBS News just as the U2 incident-the downing of a U.S. spy plane over Russian territory-is unfolding"--

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Subjects
Genres
Autobiographies
Published
Washington, DC : Brookings Institution Press [2021]
Language
English
Main Author
Marvin L. Kalb (author)
Physical Description
xii, 337 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes index.
ISBN
9780815738961
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • 1. Joining a "Band of Brothers"
  • 2. CBS's "Specialist on Soviet Affairs"
  • 3. Broadcasting's One Thing, Writing's Another
  • 4. A Book, a Documentary, and a New Idea
  • 5. "The Russians are Coming"
  • 6. The Sino-Soviet Alliance: Mysteries, Puzzles, and Enigmas
  • 7. Around the World in 100 Days-Part One
  • 8. Around the World-Part Two
  • 9. A Dream Come True
  • 10. The Paris Summit: Ike vs. Nikita
  • 11. ... and, Finally, Moscow
  • 12. Censors, Circuits, and Double Beds
  • 13. Bargaining with Bureaucrats
  • 14. The "Pigeon" Lost in my Pasternak Adventure
  • 15. "Do Svidaniia"
  • 16. Saying No to Murrow?
  • Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review

The second installment in Kalb's personal story, following The Year I Was Peter the Great (2017). In his latest detailed chronicle, which he aptly calls "a long letter home after an unforgettable personal adventure," the author moves forward from his time as a young diplomatic attaché at the American Embassy in Moscow in 1956. A year later, he was hired by Edward R. Murrow to work at CBS News headquarters, and in 1960, he landed his dream job as Moscow correspondent for the network. Kalb engagingly narrates his remarkable journey, from doctoral student in Russian history at Harvard to author and CBS Moscow correspondent in just a few years. As part of Murrow's devoted "band of brothers," Kalb was set on a fast-track ascent through the ranks, and he distinguished himself with his unique expertise on Russian politics at a time of daily perilous news from Cold War Moscow. Though he did not know how to write a radio newscast when he first arrived at the empty CBS newsroom on Madison Avenue, Kalb was a fast, eager learner, and he quickly made himself indispensable. It wasn't long before he was contributing commentary for Blair Clark on the news roundup The World Tonight and then for Murrow himself on his national newscast. In addition to his entertaining personal story, including his burgeoning relationship with his wife and his diligent work in producing his first book, Kalb's in-the-moment narrative provides an illuminating snapshot of such early newsroom characters as William Shirer, Dallas Townsend, Walter Cronkite, Charles Kuralt, Lowell Thomas, and Howard K. Smith, among many others. Kalb's fond, generous memoir, which vividly delineates a bygone era of early journalism, will appeal to students of 20th-century American history as well as aspiring broadcast journalists. The author was involved in many significant Cold War moments, and he brings us directly into that world. Hopefully Kalb is back at his desk; readers will be eager for the next volume. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.