Kinzer, Stephen 1951-

PERSONAL:

Born August 4, 1951, in New York, NY; son of H.M. (a magazine editor) and Ilona Kinzer (a teacher and actress). Education: Boston University, B.A., 1973.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Chicago, IL. Agent—Nancy Love Agency, 250 E. 65th St., New York, NY 10021.

CAREER:

Freelance journalist, 1976-81; Boston Globe, Boston, MA, reporter, 1981-83; New York Times, New York, NY, reporter, 1983—, bureau chief in Managua, Nicaragua, 1983-89, in Bonn, Germany, 1990-92, in Berlin, Germany, 1992-96, and in Istanbul, Turkey, 1996-2000.

WRITINGS:

(With Stephen Schlesinger) Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1982, 2nd expanded edition, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), 2005.

Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua, Putnam (New York, NY), 1991.

Crescent and Star: Turkey between Two Worlds, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 2001.

All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, John Wiley & Sons (Hoboken, NJ), 2003.

Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, Times Books/Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Stephen Kinzer began his career as a freelance journalist in 1976. He has used the opportunities afforded him as a journalist to write a number of well-respected and highly regarded books on the background behind tumultuous events in his host countries. Early in his career, Kinzer was based in Central America, and he quickly became an expert on current affairs in Guatemala. His first book, Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, written with Stephen Schlesinger, was gleaned from Kinzer's early freelance reports on the subject as well as subsequent research conducted in that country. Later, while working as bureau chief for the New York Times in Nicaragua in the 1980s and in Turkey in the 1990s, Kinzer gained the insight necessary to write books that are considered among the finest political and social histories available on these two countries.

Bitter Fruit examines the events leading up to the 1954 overthrow of the Guatemalan president Jacobo Arbenz. Arbenz rose to power in 1951 on a platform of agrarian reform that pitted him against the largest landowner and employer in the country, United Fruit. Kinzer and Schlesinger show that United Fruit engaged in a huge media campaign in the United States to turn public opinion there against Arbenz, whom it portrayed as a Communist. The authors also discuss the role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Arbenz's overthrow. Nation contributor Christopher Hitchens hailed Bitter Fruit as an "exemplary account" of the subject and noted that the book implicates American liberals in the events that led to the coup. Originally published in 1982, the book was expanded in later editions to include events in Guatemala's history since the original publication.

Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua was published after Kinzer served as the New York Times bureau chief in Nicaragua from 1983 to 1989. There, he experienced firsthand the devastating Nicaraguan civil war, in which the newly installed Sandinista regime, a Marxist government, was challenged by American-backed "Contra" fighters. The level of journalistic fieldwork that brought this book to fruition—Kinzer interviewed parties directly involved in the opposing Sandinista and Contra chains of command—was coupled with a personal interest in Nicaraguan culture that extended to his off-duty hours. The result is a book that displays "public affairs journalism at its best," according to Library Journal reviewer J.A. Rhodes, who also believed that the work "will stand as the definitive study of Nicaragua in the turbulent 1980s." In the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Christopher Dickey noted that "Kinzer rightly condemns the arrogance and the many failures of Nicaragua's revolutionaries," but added that he praises the revolution itself and blames the United States for imposing its political will in ways that perpetuate political corruption and social oppression. Calling the book "a well-written, information-rich survey of modern Nicaragua," a Publishers Weekly reviewer was also impressed with Kinzer's "many personal stories of his interaction with Nicaraguans" and his ability to trace the roots of the nonmilitary "stand-off" that pitted the Catholic Church against the ruling government.

Kinzer turns his attention to modern Turkey in Crescent and Star: Turkey between Two Worlds. A Business Week reviewer remarked that Kinzer shows himself to be "an energetic reporter who immersed himself in Turkey's vibrant society. He mixed with ordinary people in buses and smoke shops, hosted a Turkish-language radio program, and … logged plenty of evenings in the Turkish bistros … consuming raki, the Turkish national beverage." The book treats readers to an insightful historical analysis of the stark divisions within Turkish society that could produce the 1915 Armenian massacres and then, several years later, proceed to dismantle a monarchy that had existed for six hundred years, paving the way to the creation of a modern republic.

In Crescent and Star, Kinzer also looks at Turkey's place directly on the geographic cusp between Europe and Asia and considers Turkey's continuing struggle to choose between the political and social dynamics of these two very different worlds. "Kinzer … rewards us with the boiled-down best of his reportage and understanding of the country," wrote Carlin Romano in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Booklist reviewer Gilbert Taylor stated that Kinzer "evocatively describes the customs of Turkish social life and also analyzes the paradoxes of its political system." Commending Kinzer for a journalistic style that emerges from a deep knowledge of Turkish culture, a Publishers Weekly reviewer welcomed the publication of Crescent and Star as "a concise introduction to Turkey." Praising the author's analysis of history, culture, and the role of the military in politics, New York Times Book Review contributor Fernanda Eberstadt observed that "for painstakingly honest advice as to what needs fixing in order for Turkey yet to become ‘a light unto the nations,’ Crescent and Star cannot be beat."

The interference of the United States in the internal politics of Iran, and the long-lasting repercussions from it, are detailed in Kinzer's book All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. In 1953, the newly formed CIA, which had evolved from the wartime Office of Special Services, collaborated with Britian's Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) to engineer a coup in Iran. Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh believed strongly that his country should run its own affairs, particularly regarding its petroleum industry. In the pull between the two superpowers (the United States and the Soviet Union), he leaned toward the Soviets. The strategic position of Iran in the East-West balance, as well as its rich oil reserves, led the United States to take steps to protect its interests by toppling Mossadegh. Kinzer gives the details on how the prime minister was forced from power to be replaced by Mohammad Reza Shah, who was friendly to American and British interests. As the years went on, Mohammad Reza Shah developed into a brutal ruler, and many in the Middle East deeply resented the United States for forcing the Shah on them. In 1979 he was overthrown by Iranian factions with deeply anti-American sentiments.

Reviewing this book for Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in 2004, shortly after the United States went to war in the Middle East, Hugh S. Galford called it "an entertaining and educating read," one that "sheds light on one of the most important U.S. actions in the Middle East of the 20th century. It is also a book with relevance to today. It is said that those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it. This book should be read thoughtfully by anyone concerned about where the current U.S. Administration's policies might lead." David Pryce-Jones, writing in the conservative journal National Review, suggested that Kinzer was biased toward Mossadegh. He further stated that Kinzer "prefers to deal in myth rather than consider realities," and called the author's analysis "simplistic, not to say fanciful." Kinzer's reliability was not questioned by the reviewer for Publishers Weekly, who commented on the author's "breezy storytelling and diligent research," and recommended All the Shah's Men as "a textbook lesson in how not to conduct foreign policy."

Kinzer took a long view of U.S. interference in foreign affairs in his book Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. The author refers to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 as the climax of a 110-year period in which U.S. operatives destabilized and ultimately overthrew no less than fourteen different governments that failed to win the approval of those in power in the United States, whether for political, moral, or economic reasons. In detailing these fourteen cases, wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor, Kinzer "convincingly portrays U.S. foreign policy as a branch of organized crime," showing much wrongdoing by American interests and many negative results from American actions. The material makes for "a sobering and saddening book," concluded the reviewer. Overthrow provides "a dose of reality that only rarely sneaks through in this country," due to the tendency of Americans to think of themselves as a uniquely chosen people, in the opinion of Tom Roberts in National Catholic Reporter. Roberts further stated: "Kinzer strips away the fantasy and delivers the American character, unadorned and with only the facts of history as props, to the harsh glare of the center-stage spotlight."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Prospect, November, 2006, Lawrence Korb, review of Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, p. 58.

America's Intelligence Wire, September 15, 2003, Wolf Blitzer, transcript of CNN interview with Stephen Kinzer.

Booklist, July, 2001, Gilbert Taylor, review of Crescent and Star: Turkey between Two Worlds, p. 174; May 15, 2006; Gilbert Taylor, review of Overthrow, p. 9.

Business Week, October 1, 2001, review of Crescent and Star, p. 16; August 25, 2003, review of All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, p. 28.

California Bookwatch, August, 2006, review of Overthrow.

Economist, August 25, 2001, review of Crescent and Star; August 16, 2003, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 74; May 20, 2006, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 86.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2003, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 731; February 15, 2006, review of Overthrow, p. 172.

Library Journal, March 15, 1991, J.A. Rhodes, review of Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua; July, 2001, Ruth K. Baacke, review of Crescent and Star, p. 110; June 15, 2003, Ed Goedeken, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 88; March 15, 2006, Edwin B. Burgess, review of Overthrow, p. 82.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, April 28, 1991, Christopher Dickey, review of Blood of Brothers, p. 2.

Middle East Journal, summer, 2003, Ervand Abrahamian, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 499.

Middle East Policy, winter, 2003, David Nalle, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 148; winter, 2004, Masoud Kazemzadeh, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 122.

Middle East Quarterly, summer, 2004, Jonathan Schanzer, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 81.

Nation, July 6, 1985, Christopher Hitchens, "Minority Report," p. 8.

National Catholic Reporter, December 29, 2006, Tom Roberts, review of Overthrow, p. 14.

National Review, September 15, 2003, David Pryce-Jones, review of All the Shah's Men.

New York Times, July 23, 2003, Ivo H. Daalder, review of All the Shah's Men, p. E12; May 2, 2006, Richard K. Betts, review of Overthrow, p. E6.

New York Times Book Review, October 21, 2001, Fernanda Eberstadt, review of Crescent and Star, p. 12; August 10, 2003, Warren Bass, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 13; April 16, 2006, Anatol Lieven, review of Overthrow, p. 25.

Philadelphia Inquirer, September 26, 2001, Carlin Romano, review of Crescent and Star.

Progressive, September, 2006, Amitabh Pal, review of Overthrow, p. 41.

Publishers Weekly, February 15, 1991, review of Blood of Brothers; June 11, 2001, review of Crescent and Star, p. 69; May 12, 2003, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 51; February 20, 2006, review of Overthrow, p. 147.

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March, 2004, Hugh S. Galford, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 86.

Whole Earth Review, fall, 1987, Dick Fugett, review of Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, p. 96.

World and I, December, 2003, Shusha Guppy, review of All the Shah's Men, p. 224.