American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump
biography · First published 2026
Author guide
Kai Bird Books in Order
Kai Bird is an American historian, journalist, and biographer. He is the Executive Director and Distinguished Lecturer of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the CUNY Graduate Center. His books examine American political figures, the Cold War, nuclear weapons, the Arab-Israeli conflict, intelligence, and the American presidency.
biographyhistorymemoirjournalism
Catalog record updated .
Kai Bird's Newest Book
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
His Pulitzer Prize-winning co-authored biography and defining work.
Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978
A personal memoir that introduces his perspective on the Middle East and its conflicts.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Nonfiction (7)
- The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy: Brothers in Arms
biography · 1998
"Grey is the color of truth." So observed Mac Bundy in defending America's intervention in Vietnam. Kai Bird brilliantly captures this ambiguity in his revelatory look at Bundy and his brother William, two of the most influential…
- American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
biography · 2005
THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE OPPENHEIMER • "A riveting account of one of history’s most essential and paradoxical figures.”—Christopher Nolan #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • The definitive biography…
- The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames
biography · 2014
Drawing on extensive interviews with Ames' widow and quotes from his private letters, a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer presents a brilliant narrative of the making of America's most influential and effective intelligence officer in the…
- The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter
history · 2021
An essential re-evaluation of the complex triumphs and tragedies of Jimmy Carter's presidential legacy. In this first full presidential biography of Jimmy Carter, Bird unfolds the story of Carter's four years with few allies inside…
