Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare

Thomas Rid's Active Measures is the definitive history of organised disinformation as an instrument of statecraft. Drawing on declassified archives from the KGB, Stasi, CIA and NSA, Rid traces the operational logic of political warfare across a century — from White Russian forgeries in the 1920s to Soviet Cold War active measures, and from the emergence of digital leaking to the 2016 US election interference campaign. The argument is precise: disinformation is not new, it is not uniquely Russian, and it follows identifiable patterns that analysts and practitioners can learn to recognise.

What makes this book indispensable is its refusal to treat the current moment as exceptional. Rid shows that every generation of information operators has exploited the communication technologies of its era — radio, print, television, and now social media — to amplify division, erode trust, and manufacture reality. For those working to understand or counter influence operations, Active Measures provides the historical depth that most contemporary accounts lack. It is not a book about what is happening now; it is a book about why it keeps happening, and how the machinery of deception actually works. Essential reading for anyone operating in this field.