The Glass House How Russia's Military Intelligence Agency, the GRU, Changed the World

by Weiss, Michael

• ISBN13: 9781538717707
• ISBN10: 1538717700
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2026-09-01
• Publisher: Twelve

Summary

The first complete, living history of the most dangerous spy organization on the planet: Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU.

From investigating the relationship between Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, and the GRU, to the agency's meddling in the 2016 presidential election and the election of Donald Trump, to its current operations in digital misinformation, THE GLASS HOUSE is the first definitive history of Russia's most dangerous asset. While we associate the KGB with the bad guys of James Bond movies or John le Carré novels, the GRU has arguably been more significant in shaping the nature, outcome, and aftermath of the world post-Cold War.

The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, known simply by its acronym—GRU—stands accused of hacking the communication systems of a U.S. presidential race; attempting to murder one of its defectors in England with a weapon of mass destruction; and shooting down a commercial airliner over the skies of Ukraine, killing close to 300 people on board. Add to that list its failed effort plotting a coup in a sovereign nation as it sought to join NATO, and that’s just the GRU’s last five years.

A masterpiece of investigative journalism, THE GLASS HOUSE includes revelations that date back decades, including...

Author Biography

Michael Weiss is a veteran investigative journalist who focuses on international affairs. He was a National Security Analyst at CNN and wrote for CNN.com. Now a contributor to The Atlantic and featured columnist for The Daily Beast, Weiss has interviewed Russian spies; published and curated a series of still-classified KGB training manuals; reported from rebel-held Syria and war-torn Ukraine; and broken major stories about Russian corruption and the Kremlin's ongoing subversion efforts in the United States and Europe. He is the coauthor of the New York Times Bestseller ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror as well as the coauthor of The Menace of Unreality: How the Kremlin Weaponizes Information, Culture and Money. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Weiss lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Amy, and their daughter.