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Assignment Russia: Becoming a Foreign Correspondent in the Crucible of the Cold War
A personal journey through some of the darkest moments of the cold war and the early days of television news
Marvin Kalb, the award-winning journalist who has written extensively about the world he reported on during his long career, now turns his eye on the young man who became that journalist. Chosen by legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow to become one of what came to be known as the Murrow Boys, Kalb in this newest volume of his memoirs takes readers back to his first days as a journalist, and what also were the first days of broadcast news.
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 of CBS News just as the U2 incident--the downing of a US spy plane over Russian territory--is unfolding.
As readers of his first volume, The Year I Was Peter the Great, will recall, being the right person, in the right place, at the right time found Kalb face to face with Khrushchev. Assignment Russia sees Kalb once again an eyewitness to history--and a writer and analyst who has helped shape the first draft of that history.
Kalb witnessed and interpreted many of the defining events of the Cold War. In Assignment Russia he ultimately finds himself assigned as Moscow correspondent for CBS News just as the U-2 incident--the downing of a U.S. spy plane over Russian territory--is unfolding. Kalb brings alive once again the tension that surrounded that event, and the reportorial skills deployed to illuminate it.
Like The Year I Was Peter the Great, the first volume in a series of memoirs narrating his earlier life, Assignment Russia brings us Kalb once again as an eyewitness to history--and a writer and analyst who has helped shape the first draft of that history.
Marvin Kalb, the award-winning journalist who has written extensively about the world he reported on during his long career, now turns his eye on the young man who became that journalist. Chosen by legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow to become one of what came to be known as the Murrow Boys, Kalb in this newest volume of his memoirs takes readers back to his first days as a journalist, and what also were the first days of broadcast news.
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 of CBS News just as the U2 incident--the downing of a US spy plane over Russian territory--is unfolding.
As readers of his first volume, The Year I Was Peter the Great, will recall, being the right person, in the right place, at the right time found Kalb face to face with Khrushchev. Assignment Russia sees Kalb once again an eyewitness to history--and a writer and analyst who has helped shape the first draft of that history.
Kalb witnessed and interpreted many of the defining events of the Cold War. In Assignment Russia he ultimately finds himself assigned as Moscow correspondent for CBS News just as the U-2 incident--the downing of a U.S. spy plane over Russian territory--is unfolding. Kalb brings alive once again the tension that surrounded that event, and the reportorial skills deployed to illuminate it.
Like The Year I Was Peter the Great, the first volume in a series of memoirs narrating his earlier life, Assignment Russia brings us Kalb once again as an eyewitness to history--and a writer and analyst who has helped shape the first draft of that history.
345 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 13, 2021
44 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 8, 2022
Surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this. I don't remember Kalb; however I did grow up with Cronkite. Mr. Kalb narrates this himself, and is a perfect fit. I enjoyed the behind the scenes and his raw descriptions of news rooms and his experiences.
Kalb to my delight did not speak over my head with his Russian knowledge and experiences, nor was I bored.
Thank you NetGalley for accepting my request to read and review Assignment Russia.
Kalb to my delight did not speak over my head with his Russian knowledge and experiences, nor was I bored.
Thank you NetGalley for accepting my request to read and review Assignment Russia.
July 31, 2022
This was a brilliant and fascinating book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book which covered the authors life. Living as a CBS journalist during the cold War. I listened to the audiobook which was read by the author. I love both his pitch and tone of voice. I enjoyed the relaxed approach to the reading of the audiobook it really allowed me to take in everything he was saying.
It was a brilliant autobiography/memoir story that had me engrossed from the beginning. I tried my hardest to finish it in one day but tiredness took over lol.
Marvin and his wife have definitely lead an incredible and some time very frustrating life. This book follows his life from starting his career as a journalist writing for radio news through to his life as a journalist living in Russia during the cold War. Telling all the fascinating trials and tribulations of living and working in a communist state. I especially loved all the hotel issues, it really had me chuckling but I won't give that much away. I love read books about living and working in Russia as it is such a secretive country and the author really brings these facts to light with great stories. I really do recommend this book to all those who live reading what it's like living and working in Russia, those who are interested in journalism and those with an interest in the cold War.
So much praise goes out to the author and publishing team for bringing us this very interesting and fascinating book. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this fantastic author.
It was a brilliant autobiography/memoir story that had me engrossed from the beginning. I tried my hardest to finish it in one day but tiredness took over lol.
Marvin and his wife have definitely lead an incredible and some time very frustrating life. This book follows his life from starting his career as a journalist writing for radio news through to his life as a journalist living in Russia during the cold War. Telling all the fascinating trials and tribulations of living and working in a communist state. I especially loved all the hotel issues, it really had me chuckling but I won't give that much away. I love read books about living and working in Russia as it is such a secretive country and the author really brings these facts to light with great stories. I really do recommend this book to all those who live reading what it's like living and working in Russia, those who are interested in journalism and those with an interest in the cold War.
So much praise goes out to the author and publishing team for bringing us this very interesting and fascinating book. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this fantastic author.
April 26, 2022
Marvin Kalb joined CBS Radio in New York, in 1957, to write “electronic journalism” which included local news and television. He got a crash course in news writing and discovered old boys’ networking after leaving his PhD program at Harvard in Russian history. My, what a career he was about to enter. Hired a year later by Edward R. Murrow, then landing his dream job as Moscow correspondent for CBS network after that, there was no stopping him. Kalb’s memoir harkens back to the bygone days of broadcasting bringing back memories of Dallas Townsend, Walter Cronkite, Charles Kuralt, Lowell Thomas, Howard K. Smith, and others. You could feel the excitement during the period of time when news was brought to the public in a whole new way. Tension from the Cold War period, emanating from U.S relations with Khrushchev and the Soviet Union, was high, and then the U2 incident occurs. Relive history in this most interesting and exciting book by Kalb. Better yet, listen to the book read by Kalb, as I did. His accent is also historical.
April 27, 2022
As a person who feels an infinity for the hustle and fossil of the Ford is in 50s, I couldn’t wait to get in to Marvin Kalb‘s career. I must say I wasn’t disappointed. From his first day at the new station to him meeting his wife tell him finally arriving in Russia it was all interesting and held my attention the whole time. I must say I have found a new respect for Mr. Kalb and although I wasn’t extremely familiar with him I knew I had heard his name somewhere. I thought his memories that he shares in this book were detailed and worth listening to. I loved it and highly recommend it. Memoirs do not get much better than this. I gave it five stars and it deserves everyone of them. I was giving this book by Net Gally and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Please forgive any grammatical a punctuation errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.
April 29, 2022
Assignment Russia
With thanks to NetGalley, Marvin Kalb, and his publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book feels like an adventure movie. It is written with immaculate precision, emotive language, and an overall tone of frank honestly. I loved the experience of reading this book, I felt like I was listening to Kalb tell me this story over a dinner table but with a fabulous attention to detail.
The Cold War, Russia, and the ongoing impact of both are deeply interesting and this first person account brings the realities of history into sharp relief.
I can’t recommend this book enough, I now want to read Kalb’s entire back list.
With thanks to NetGalley, Marvin Kalb, and his publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book feels like an adventure movie. It is written with immaculate precision, emotive language, and an overall tone of frank honestly. I loved the experience of reading this book, I felt like I was listening to Kalb tell me this story over a dinner table but with a fabulous attention to detail.
The Cold War, Russia, and the ongoing impact of both are deeply interesting and this first person account brings the realities of history into sharp relief.
I can’t recommend this book enough, I now want to read Kalb’s entire back list.
July 29, 2021
Marvin Kalb draws an interesting, sometimes fascinating, picture of the TV news business and he challenges of understanding the Soviet Union. I remember Kalb on CBS News. I understand better why he appeared to be an authoritative interpreter of Soviet affairs. The one aspect of this memoir that was off-putting is that Marvin, while an intelligent, able and informative correspondent, he comes across as quite impressed with himself in this memoir.
May 31, 2021
A trip down memory lane for those of us who have served in Moscow. UpDK, Intourist, MFA -- these are all acronyms that are met with dread and humor by Americans who have served in the Soviet capital. Marvin Kalb writes with honesty and self-deprecating wit. He tells the fascinating story of his first years as a CBS reporter, ending up with the assignment of his dreams (or nightmares, if one considers Madame Borisovna and the cramped rooms at the Metropol). His administrative travails aside, I'm a bit jealous that he was able to have so much personal contact with the Soviet leadership, and was in on so many big stories (the blown Paris Summit, U-2, Khrushchev's eroding position, the Sino-Soviet split, etc.). By the time I got there in the late 1970s, it was the Brezhnev era, and Soviet leaders did not deign to meet with foreigners unless it was absolutely necessary.
I'm now looking forward to reading Kalb's earlier books (Eastern Exposure, The Year I was Peter the Great). What a fascinating career.
I'm now looking forward to reading Kalb's earlier books (Eastern Exposure, The Year I was Peter the Great). What a fascinating career.
April 4, 2022
Marvin Kalb has led an incredible life. And this book was such an inspiring insight into the start of his career. I really appreciated the little details he provided on his travels and on living in Russia. I also loved the narration. Thanks to Netgalley for sharing!
June 9, 2021
Excellent Memoir. Puts you solidly in the Times and technology.
April 4, 2022
Marvin Kalb of CBS News tells his story of covering the Cold War in Russia at the beginning of his career. Kalb narrates the audiobook and does an admirable job narrating his autobiography.
January 28, 2023
I watched Marvin Kalb report on TV from all over the world in my life and this book gives the backstory of part of that journey. If you don't know or haven't watched Marvin Kalb, never mind.
April 18, 2022
Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC.
Assignment Russia is a detailed memoir by Marvin Kalb about his time in Russia, and then acting as a 'Russia Expert' in several other situations thereafter. It is an interesting look at the early days of broadcast television and some of the struggles to adapt from what had previously been a radio-dominated industry. Great read!
Assignment Russia is a detailed memoir by Marvin Kalb about his time in Russia, and then acting as a 'Russia Expert' in several other situations thereafter. It is an interesting look at the early days of broadcast television and some of the struggles to adapt from what had previously been a radio-dominated industry. Great read!
July 16, 2022
Marvin Kalb had one professional goal: to become CBS’s Moscow correspondent. In 1960 he made it, and it lasted to 1963. He was the last recruit hired by Edward R. Murrow in 1957, one of the “Murrow Boys,” a special band of brothers. Kalb earned a PhD in Russian history at Harvard, had met Nikita Khrushchev (who nicknamed him Peter the Great) while serving as a translator in 1956 in Moscow prior to his CBS job. There are a lot of interesting stories he tells about the Cold War era, such as Pasternak, author of Doctor Zhivago being denied by the USSR to travel to receive his Nobel prize (and not being published there until 1988); the cracks in the Sino-Soviet alliance, which Marvin saw before most; he was on Nixon’s “enemies list”; his coverage of the Paris Summit between Eisenhower and Khrushchev, where the latter demanded an apology and an end to U-2 flights (Gary Powers had recently been shot down over the USSR) and Eisenhower fuming later that Khrushchev was a “son of a bitch.”
One poignant story he recounts is a discussion with a Russian about journalistic objectivity:
“Walking over to a big window with a view of the busy boulevard below, Kharlamov beckoned for me to follow him. Looking down at a group of street cleaners, women carrying bunches of bundled branches used in this case to sweep the overnight debris into the back of a waiting truck, he asked, “How would you cover this scene?”
“In a rather straight forward way,” I replied, surprised by his question. “If it was for radio, I’d describe the overall scene, the Foreign Ministry building, this group of women workers, two supervisors, both men, smoking, while the women swept the debris into the truck. If I could, I’d interview one of the women and one of the men. I’d probably also say this was a rather common scene on a Moscow street.” “But when we have reached the final stage of human development—that’s communism, Mr. Kalb, you understand these women will be using modern brushes, not branches, and the men will not be standing around smoking. They too will be working. There will be total equality between men and women. And that, not what you were describing, would be an example of objective reporting. You want to be objective, don’t you?”
“Mr. Kharlamov,” I replied, calmly, “when you have communism, invite me back, and I’ll report what I see then. If the women actually have brushes, I’ll say that. And if the men are really working, I’ll say that too. But now I can only report what I see at this time.”
Another amusing story is a couple Khrushchev colleagues assessment of the Kennedy brothers as “little boys in short pants.” Still, Khrushchev wanted Nixon to win in 1960 since Kennedy was an unknown quantity.
The book is a bit uneven, too slow and overly detailed throughout, which is why I only gave it three stars. That said, it is an interesting bit of history, especially if you like broadcasting (radio and TV), and the mechanics of foreign service in the USSR.
One poignant story he recounts is a discussion with a Russian about journalistic objectivity:
“Walking over to a big window with a view of the busy boulevard below, Kharlamov beckoned for me to follow him. Looking down at a group of street cleaners, women carrying bunches of bundled branches used in this case to sweep the overnight debris into the back of a waiting truck, he asked, “How would you cover this scene?”
“In a rather straight forward way,” I replied, surprised by his question. “If it was for radio, I’d describe the overall scene, the Foreign Ministry building, this group of women workers, two supervisors, both men, smoking, while the women swept the debris into the truck. If I could, I’d interview one of the women and one of the men. I’d probably also say this was a rather common scene on a Moscow street.” “But when we have reached the final stage of human development—that’s communism, Mr. Kalb, you understand these women will be using modern brushes, not branches, and the men will not be standing around smoking. They too will be working. There will be total equality between men and women. And that, not what you were describing, would be an example of objective reporting. You want to be objective, don’t you?”
“Mr. Kharlamov,” I replied, calmly, “when you have communism, invite me back, and I’ll report what I see then. If the women actually have brushes, I’ll say that. And if the men are really working, I’ll say that too. But now I can only report what I see at this time.”
Another amusing story is a couple Khrushchev colleagues assessment of the Kennedy brothers as “little boys in short pants.” Still, Khrushchev wanted Nixon to win in 1960 since Kennedy was an unknown quantity.
The book is a bit uneven, too slow and overly detailed throughout, which is why I only gave it three stars. That said, it is an interesting bit of history, especially if you like broadcasting (radio and TV), and the mechanics of foreign service in the USSR.
June 8, 2021
An amazing read—I wish it were longer.
I grew up listening to and watching many of the correspondents described in this book. It was a treat to read about their careers as well as Mr. Kalb’s early days. I didn’t want it to end—which is for me always a good recommendation.
I grew up listening to and watching many of the correspondents described in this book. It was a treat to read about their careers as well as Mr. Kalb’s early days. I didn’t want it to end—which is for me always a good recommendation.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews