The Plot to Destroy Democracy: How Putin and His Spies Are Undermining America and Dismantling the West

This book was very hastily thrown together. It is filled with sentence fragments, dangling clauses, etc. I found a section of a couple pages that was repeated almost verbatim with just a few paragraphs in between. The hastiness is not limited to grammar. There is no deep analysis of political structures or anything of that sort.

The level of urgency transmitted here is essentially panic.

Probably this is very much the kind of document that routinely lands on the desk of high ranking officials. It is a mass of facts with the dots connected to form a rough picture. When timely action is required, coherent precision is not a realistic option. A hastily compiled dossier is what circumstances allow.

Nance does not portray Donald Trump in any show more kind of favorable light. This is no hatchet job, though. Trump is viewed in the context of Putin's project, the Axis of Autocracy. Putin is the central character of the book. But the story is more about the various agents around Putin, the folks organizing the hybrid warfare, the work to topple NATO through cyber attacks of various types.

Today, as I write this review, Trump is threatening various internet groups because criticism of him is still appearing. How serious is the threat to democracy? Clearly very real. Nance outlines various sorts of relationships between one nation and its agents in another nation, e.g. Witting Asset, Fellow Traveler, etc. If Trump will follow instructions from Russia that he knows will weaken the USA, in order to protect or advance his own personal interests... that is a Witting Asset. Of course this is very tricky territory. If Trump simply thinks that an alliance with Russia and the various ideologies associated with that, e.g. White Supremacy, make the USA stronger than an alliance with European countries that still adhere to e.g. Enlightenment values such as liberty and equality... does that make him a Fellow Traveler instead?

We're in very strange times, for sure. I hear folks in the USA complaining about the corruption etc. of big government. Folks, we have big government because we have a big empire. A shift to small government means a shift to a lifestyle maybe like Bulgaria if not Venezuela. For sure we have lots of problems and lots of room for improvement. But a chainsaw and a sledge hammer are not appropriate tools for brain surgery. Yeah and if your brain surgeon is in bed with your enemies... panic might be the appropriate level of urgency. show less

Every single person in the United States, perhaps even the world, needs to read this book. It is dense, packed to the gills, with all of the information you need to know about Putin and his attacks on US and European democracies. There is alot in this but stick with it, the final chapter and the epilogue pull it all together in a very powerful way.

I listened to the audiobook version and feel overloaded with facts. The only way that that could have been prevented would have been prevented is by more organization and editing. There was some repetition. I have listened to Malcolm W. Nance, many times prior to buying this audiobook. I think that a more organized second edition would be valuable.

Other that, I am even more convinced than before I listened to this book that Trump was picked by Russia to run for the presidency before Trump even thought about it. Trump will do anything to stay in good grace with Putin, Putin has a tremendous amount of background on Trump's financial mismanagement of his businesses and personal affairs. He does not have a conscience, and it is nothing to show more him if the United States looses its democracy.

There is a tremendous amount of information of what Putin has done to other countries around the world. I was taking notes at the beginning of the book, but the weight and breath of his destruction is too overwhelming to keep up with. Creating and nourishing division is part of his tactic in all the countries that he wants to eventually control.

My favorite part of the book is the Epilogue, where we are told what we can do to fight untruths and save democracy. Now I know what I must do and what all of us who do not want to lose our democracy must do. show less

While the early part of the book contains valuable information, I only wish the first 225 pages were as readable and exciting as the last 70.

OMG, fantastic the way Malcolm Nance explains in detail how all democracies are being attacked and destroyed world wide. A terrifying must read for everyone and everyone MUST vote in our upcoming midterms!

The last two chapters and the epilogue were very interesting. The author describes in detail the personality and behavior of Donald J. Trump

I read an Audiobook version of this book checked out of the county library, this was the second book I've read by this author who sometimes appears on MSNBC. The last couple of chapters discuss Trump's personal issues and his relationship with Putin. Total reading time: 12:30.