Midnight in Moscow: A Memoir from the Front Lines of Russia's War Against the West

2025 Winner of The Fletcher School's Best Book on U.S.-Russian Relations One of The Cipher Brief's "Best National Security Reads for 2024"

A memoir of service by the American ambassador who was on the diplomatic front lines when Putin invaded Ukraine, Midnight in Moscow is the first behind-the-scenes account of how U.S.-Russia relations hit their nadir--and a playbook for our unfolding confrontation.

For weeks before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, John J. Sullivan, the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, was warning that it would happen. When troops finally crossed the border, he was woken in the middle of the night with a prearranged code. The signal was even more bracing than the February cold: it meant that Sullivan needed to collect his bodyguards and get to the embassy as soon as possible. The war had begun, and the world would never be the same.

In Midnight in Moscow, Sullivan leads readers into the offices of the U.S. embassy and the halls of the Kremlin during this climactic period--among the most dangerous since World War II. He shows how the Putin regime repeatedly lied about its intentions to invade Ukraine in the weeks leading up to the attack, while also devoting huge numbers of personnel and vast resources to undermining the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia. And he explains how, when Putin ultimately gave the order to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he proved that Russia was not just at war with its neighbor: it was also at war, in a very real sense, with the United States, and with everything that it represents. But while Putin decided how this conflict started, its ending will be shaped by us.

With his unique perspective on a pivotal moment in world history, Sullivan shows how our relationship with Russia has deteriorated, where it's headed, and how far we should be prepared to go in standing up to the menace in Moscow.


Author: John J. Sullivan
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Published: 08/06/2024
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.44lbs
Size: 9.52h x 6.33w x 1.35d
ISBN: 9780316571098


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2024
Library Journal 08/01/2024 pg. 96
Booklist 08/01/2024 pg. 21

About the Author
John J. Sullivan is an American attorney and government official whose career spans four decades in the public and private sectors. He has served five presidents in prominent diplomatic and legal positions, including as U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation under Presidents Joe Biden (January 2021 to October 2022) and Donald Trump (December 2019 to January 2021). Before his post in Moscow, he served for almost three years as the U.S. deputy secretary of state. He is currently a distinguished fellow at Georgetown and Columbia Universities, a partner in Mayer Brown LLP, and a member of the congressionally-chartered, bipartisan Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State. He splits his time between the Washington, DC area and Connecticut.