Attaché Case - by Todd Pierce (Paperback)

About the Book

"The Kitchen Confidential of the State Department." Opening up a tight-lipped profession, Todd Pierce takes you backstage at the embassy, sharing what it's like to serve as a working-level diplomat.

Book Synopsis

"The Kitchen Confidential of the State Department."

You've seen them on the news, looking competent and concerned in their navy suits. They're in Beijing, Riyadh, Nairobi, Geneva, and of course Washington, DC. They look uneasy on camera. When they speak (which is as little as possible), it's with caution, hemmed in by protocol and the fear of causing an incident.

These are the diplomats.

Opening up a famously tight-lipped profession, State Department veteran Todd Pierce takes you backstage at the embassy, sharing what it's like to serve as a working-level diplomat.

Funny, revealing, pointed, and deeply human, Attaché Case tells what it feels like to represent the celebrity country-the US-a place everyone thinks they know and has an opinion about.

Review Quotes

"Part memoir, part behind-the-scenes guide, and part ethnographic portrayal of the puzzling, opaque but never boring universe of American diplomacy, Attaché Case is an irresistible page-turner, jam-packed with wit and insight. A pleasure to read."

Stathis Kalyvas

Gladstone Professor of Government and fellow of All Souls College, Oxford University