The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal

“A masterful diplomatic memoir” (The Washington Post) from CIA director*and career ambassador*William J. Burns,*from his service under*five presidents*to his personal encounters with Vladimir Putin and other world leaders-an impassioned argument for the enduring value of diplomacy in an increasingly volatile world.

Over the course of more than three decades as an American diplomat, William J. Burns played a central role in the most consequential diplomatic episodes of his time-from the bloo...