Welcome Remarks for The Lenin Plot: The Untold Story of America’s Midnight War Against Russia

Greetings from the National Archives. I’m David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to this virtual book talk with Barnes Carr, author of The Lenin Plot: The Untold Story of America’s Midnight War Against Russia.

Before we begin, though, I’d like to tell you about two upcoming programs you can view on our YouTube channel.

On Tuesday, November 24, at 7 p.m., Denise Kiernan will discuss her latest book, We Gather Together, which tells the story of Sarah Josepha Hale, who in the 19th century campaigned to establish an annual day of thanksgiving.

And on Monday, November 30, at noon, William G. Thomas III will be here to talk about his book A Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation’s Founding to the Civil War. Thomas brings us the story of the enslaved families in Maryland who filed hundreds of suits for their freedom between 1787 and 1861.

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In The Lenin Plot, Barnes Carr relates the little-known story of a U.S.–backed plot to topple and replace Vladimir Lenin as the leader of Revolutionary Russia after the Bolshevik rise to power. Carr’s work reminds us that we don’t know all there is to know about history and that the records of plans and events from long ago still have new information to divulge.

Using records from the National Archives and other institutions, Barnes Carr weaves a story of intrigue and espionage during the last year of World War I, when the Allied powers sought to bring Russia back into the war against Germany.

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It’s now my pleasure to turn you over to our guest author.

Barnes Carr was born in the Mississippi Delta and has lived in New Orleans most of his life. Carr started out as a reporter and photographer, covering civil rights stories for the New York Herald Tribune, the Memphis Press-Scimitar, and United Press International. Later, he worked as a copy editor for the Washington Evening Star and the New Orleans States-Item. A short story based on his experiences in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina received a William Faulkner Gold Medal for fiction in 2013.

In addition to The Lenin Plot, Barnes Carr is author of Operation Whisper, which details the espionage careers of Morris and Lona Cohen, the first Soviet spies to steal a complete diagram of the first atomic bomb.

Now let’s hear from Barnes Carr. Thank you for joining us today.