Boiling Point: How America Brought War to Ukraine

From bestselling author Stephen Kinzer, the untold story of the secret 75-year American campaign that set the stage for war in Ukraine

Until the Russian invasion in 2022, few Americans could find Ukraine on a map. Once the fighting began, however, support for its cause surged. The reason was clear: Russia was the aggressor, Ukraine its victim.

Yet this war did not explode out of nowhere. For seventy-five years, Moscow and Washington have fought over Ukraine. It is the most sustained covert conflict in modern history. Both sides sought to keep this story secret. They succeeded--until now.

In his groundbreaking new book, Stephen Kinzer tells this long-hidden story. Beginning in the refugee camps of postwar Europe, where CIA officers recruited their first Ukrainian agents, it follows generations of rebels, exiles, traitors, and covert operatives through decades of clandestine missions. Although nearly all of the guerrilla warriors that the CIA sent into Ukraine were captured or killed, it never gave up. From the late 1940s through the end of the Cold War, American leaders saw Ukrainians as their most effective weapon against Moscow. They continued to press that strategy after Ukraine's independence and the eastward expansion of the US-dominated NATO alliance.

Richly detailed and plot-driven, Boiling Point shows how the United States made Ukraine its most important European project of the twenty-first century, culminating in the escalation that led to war. From battlefields in the Carpathians to smoke-filled offices in New York to the Olympic Games, it is full of the wild stories and improbable characters that made All the Shah's Men a classic. This is the last great untold spy-versus-spy story of our time.

Author: Stephen Kinzer
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Published: 11/03/2026
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.50w x 1.50d
ISBN: 9781250413086


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 09/15/2026
Library Journal 10/01/2026 pg. 110

About the Author
Stephen Kinzer is an award-winning writer and correspondent who has reported from more than 50 countries on five continents. His articles and books have led The Washington Post to place him "among the best in popular foreign policy storytelling." Kinzer spent more than 20 years working for The New York Times, most of it as a foreign correspondent. His postings placed him at the center of historic events and, at times, in the line of fire. His ten books seek to uncover the roots of global conflicts. Most are accounts of American interventions abroad-- how they were carried out and what their long-term effects have been. He is a Senior Fellow at the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University and writes a world affairs column for The Boston Globe.