In the febrile run up to November’s US presidential election, David Shimer reminds us that foreign interference is nothing new. His debut book Rigged delves into the cold war, when both Washington and Moscow sought to influence the politics of third countries. And it stuffed ballot boxes, something Shimer says the CIA didn’t do. But Harry Reid , the senate minority leader in 2016 , tells Shimer there’s “no question” Moscow changed the outcome. Luke Harding’s Shadow State: Murder, Mayhem and Russia’s Remaking of the West is published by Guardian Faber on 2 July• Rigged: America, Russia and 100 Years of Covert Electoral Interference by David Shimer is published by HarperCollins (£20).

Source: The Guardian June 29, 2020 06:00 UTC