The Golden Thread: The Cold War and the Mysterious Death of Dag Hammarskjöld

by Ravi Somaiya Narrated by Ravi Somaiya

Overview

LONGLISTED FOR THE ALCS "GOLD DAGGER" AWARD FOR NON-FICTION CRIME WRITING

Uncover the story behind the death of renowned diplomat and UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld in this true story of spies and intrigue surrounding one of the most enduring unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.*
*

On September 17, 1961, Dag Hammarskjöld boarded a Douglas DC6 propeller plane on the sweltering tarmac of the airport in Leopoldville, the capital of the Congo. Hours later, he would be found dead in an African jungle with an ace of spades playing card placed on his body.

*

Hammarskjöld had been the head of the United Nations for nine years. He was legendary for his dedication to peace on earth. But dark forces circled him: Powerful and connected groups from an array of nations and organizations-including the CIA, the KGB, underground militant groups, business tycoons, and others-were determined to see Hammarskjöld fail.

*

A riveting work of investigative journalism based on never-before-seen evidence, recently revealed firsthand accounts, and groundbreaking new interviews, The Golden Thread reveals the truth behind one of the great murder mysteries of the Cold War.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"THE GOLDEN THREAD is as exciting as the best spy novels, with the enormous advantage of being completely true. Ravi Somaiya masterfully teases out the tangled strands of a Cold War mystery in a place where nothing and no one are quite what they seem. The result is a gripping book by a gifted writer and a dogged investigator."—Mitchell Zuckoff, #1 New York Times bestselling author of 13 Hours and Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11

"THE GOLDEN THREAD is one of the most gripping nonfiction books I've read in a very long time, a real-life thriller about the mysterious death of Dag Hammarskjold, the second Secretary General of the UN, in 1961. Somaiya is one of the country's best journalists, and he's used his prodigious reporting and researching skills to dig up some truly startling new information about the plane crash in the Congo that killed Hammarskjold and spawned an almost never-ending series of conspiracy theories. Somaiya does a masterful job sifting the evidence and building a case of murder. This is a fabulous page turner. I highly recommend it."—Douglas Preston, #1 bestselling author of The Monster of Florence

"Ravi Somaiya's brilliant unwrapping of the mystery surrounding Hammarskjold's death will convert the reader into an avid investigator the moment they pick up this book! A compelling read — filled with revelations and written in a style that's clean and fast-paced, THE GOLDEN THREAD also raises key questions before governments who still act suspiciously: Why? What are you hiding exactly? At its heart, the book lays bare not only Hammarskjold's undoubted heroism and the sad realities of the Congo in the 1960s (many features of which regrettably persist to this day), but also the stark dilemmas that beset the UN, when principle falls neatly into the cross-hairs of power."—Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN Human Rights Chief (2014-2018) and UN peacekeeper (1994-1996)

"[An] impressive debut...This is an eye-opening account that could lead to renewed public interest in this tragedy."—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Fans of novelists such as Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum, as well as military history and true crime enthusiasts, will find much to enjoy about this riveting read."—Library Journal

"[A] gripping account of Hammarskjöld's death and the ensuing search for the truth about what happened to him."—InsideHook

"One of the mysteries I've long been fascinated by, and am so grateful that Ravi Somaiya has cracked it open so brilliantly."—David Grann

"This taut investigative history...all but proves the role of foul play."—The New Yorker

"...an adroitly written, compelling book. If Mr. Somaiya doesn’t deliver a final solution to the mystery—who could?—he leads the reader through the tangled brush to the most likely explanation. It’s unlikely that a definitive answer to the mystery will ever materialize. Mr. Somaiya’s fascinating book is the best proxy we can expect."—Wall Street Journal

"A tour de force of a real-life murder mystery."—Christian Science Monitor

Kirkus Reviews

2020-05-18
A web of intrigue surrounds a mysterious plane crash that killed the U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld in 1961.

On Sept. 18, 1961, Hammarskjöld died in a crash during a mission to the Congo to mediate a vicious war that had intensified since 1960. Journalist Somaiya, a former correspondent for the New York Timesand contributor to the Guardian, among other venues, draws on interviews and government archives to create a tense narrative that reveals the “web of seasoned, brutal spies and assassins,” dirty deals, and ferocious hatreds that, he argues compellingly, led to the downing of the plane. Hammarskjöld, the author discovered, was caught in the crosshairs of geopolitical conflict. Russia hated him “as an agent of the West,” and the West hated him for “opening the door to Russia in the Congo.” The Congolese blamed him for the death of Patrice Lumumba, the Congo’s first prime minister, whom Hammarskjöld had tried to protect. The Belgians, who since the time of King Leopold had ruthlessly exploited the Congo and oppressed its populace, hated Hammarskjöld, as well, because he opposed the secession of a mineral-rich region from the rest of the country. After the crash, the wreckage was examined by Rhodesians, who hated the U.N. Although the official verdict maintained that the crash had been an accident, over the years, “a band of ingenious devotees” disputed that conclusion. Theories abounded: that there had been a hijacker aboard, that a mercenary plane had attacked it, even that Hammarskjöld caused the crash in order to commit suicide. Finally, in 2014, the U.N. appointed Mohamed Chaude Othman, a Tanzanian judge, to reexamine the case, and although logs—and the airport manager—had conveniently disappeared, his evidence, added to Somaiya’s research, led the author to conclude that the plane did succumb to an aerial attack, orchestrated by one or many of the parties that desperately wanted Hammarskjöld gone.

A vivid recounting of an international tragedy.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177355498
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	07/07/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos