"A profoundly disturbing account of the hitherto hidden role of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands . . . Bass has defeated the attempted coverup through laborious culling of relevant sections of the Nixon White House tapes, declassified State Department documents and interviews with former officials, American and Indian, who were involved . . . After reading Bass's account of this shameful episode, one has to . . . conclude that where the Bengalis were concerned, Kissinger and Nixon simply did not give a damn."
-Neil Sheehan, The Washington Post

"Devastating . . . Excellent . . . Bass, a historian at Princeton, has written an account—learned, riveting, and eviscerating-of the delusions and the deceptions of Nixon and Kissinger. Steeped in the forensic skills of a professional academic historian, he also possesses the imaginative energies of a classical moralist, and he tells the story of the choices and the decisions that led to the slaughter in Bengal . . . appropriately as a moral saga . . . Indispensable."
-Sunil Khilnani, The New Republic
  
Bass’ portrayal of events as they unfold is kaleidoscopic. He allows the reader a glimpse into the inner workings of the Nixon White House besotted with the prospect of opening the doors to China; the sordid realities of the Pakistan Army as it singled out Hindus in particular and unleashed the terror that led to about 10 million refugees flooding into neighbouring India; the “cloak and dagger exercise in Pakistan arranging the trip (to China)” which prompted Kissinger to say, “Yahya hasn’t had such fun since the last Hindu massacre!”
- Meera Kumar, Gateway House:Indian Council for Global Relations

"A riveting read with direct relevance to many of the most acute foreign-policy debates of today."
- Gideon Rachman, Financial Times

"Absorbing . . . Bass draws up a severe indictment of Nixon and Kissinger."
- Pankaj Mishra, The New Yorker

"It was a non-subject for scholars, a no man's land for knowledge . . . [u]ntil the arrival of a memorable book by Princeton professor Gary Bass . . . While doing justice to the victims, also, for the first time, draws out for us its lessons  . . . The book is also a tribute to politics in its true sense . . . I do want readers to be aware of the appearance of Gary Bass' book, which I hope will be widely read (and translated into French!) . . . A return to Bangladesh is required reading."
- Bernard-Henri Lévy, Le Point

“Bass has written the definitive account of the political machinations behind one of the worst (and most widely ignored) humanitarian crises of the 20th century. Piecing together the sordid history of U.S. support for a Pakistani dictator who - according to CIA estimates - slaughtered of hundreds of thousands of civilians, Bass also offers Americans much-needed context about America’s pre-9/11 involvement in a region where it still finds itself with bloody hands and abysmal bedfellows. . . The Blood Telegram offers a nuanced yet unflinching look at the juxtaposition of geopolitics and humanitarian crisis. Bass shines a much-needed spotlight on yet another dark corner of modern American history, revealing yet another bloody episode stemming from Kissinger’s crass calculations and Nixon’s embrace of brutal dictators.”
- Nick Turse, The Daily Beast

"Blistering . . . [A] must-read."
- The New York Post

"Fascinating . . . [A] rich book, constantly shifting between Washington, New Delhi and Islamabad, all corners of the narrative expertly covered by the author . . . Bass's skill in unravelling the complex strands . . . is admirable."
- Michael Young, The National

"[T]remendously lucid . . . Bass holds these leaders to a much-needed reckoning. A deeply incisive lesson for today’s leaders and electorate."
- Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"The most notable new arrival on most people’s bookshelves is Gary Bass' Blood Telegram . . . Readers are given a full account of the horrors of that near-genocide, and of the cynicism of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. It is a remarkable achievement, and deserves to be on every shelf."
- Mihir S. Sharma, Business Standard

"[An] engrossing, droll, and ultimately shocking account of Bangladesh’s liberation war, as seen from Washington . . . Bass's meticulously researched book resurrects the reputation of an unsung diplomat."
- Salil Tripathi, Mint (New Delhi)

"This is an immensely absorbing book for those interested in not just Indo-US relations but the making of foreign policy in democracies as a whole."
- The Indian Express 

"[A] gripping, if sordid, story . . . A startling revelation."
- Shougat Dasgupta, Tehelka

"Gripping. His material is so rich and his research so detailed that it is difficult to put down the book once one begins to read it . . . Bass has accomplished something truly remarkable."
- The Asian Age

"An unprecedented chronicle."
- The Hindu

“With urgent, cinematic immediacy, Gary Bass reconstructs a critical-and, to this day, profoundly consequential-chapter of Cold War history defined by appalling American complicity in genocidal atrocity, and terrifyingly high-stakes superpower brinksmanship. It is a story of immense scope, vividly populated by figures of enduring fascination, and ripe with implications for the ongoing struggle to strike a more honorable balance between wartime realpolitik and our ideals of common humanity.”
-Philip Gourevitch, author of We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families

“Gary Bass has excavated a great tragedy, one that’s been forgotten by Americans but is seared into the memory of South Asians. His talents as a scholar, writer, and foreign-policy analyst are on full display in this brilliant work of narrative history. Nixon and Kissinger come damningly alive on the pages of a book that shows, like nothing else I've read, the folly that goes by the name of ‘realism.’”
- George Packer, author of The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America 

“Gary Bass has done it again, uncovering a dark chapter in the historical record and bringing it vividly to light, forcing us to confront who we were then and who we are now. The Blood Telegram is a richly textured story with many fascinating layers, from the moral bankruptcy of U.S. leaders in the face of genocide to the multi-faceted politics of South Asia and the lasting geopolitical legacy of these events. It’s also simply hard to put down!”
- Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of A New World Order
 
“Gary Bass is unique: an investigative historian who explores the past in a masterly way that combines the best of journalism and scholarship. His latest book reads like an urgent dispatch from the frontline of genocide, a lucid and poignant description of a moral collapse in American foreign policy. Bass has painstakingly written a vital history-and a story, in the best sense of the word-that we must come to grips with.” -Peter Maass, author of Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War