David Hoffman, assistant managing editor for foreign news of the Washington Post and author of "The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and it's Dangerous Legacy," will present a public talk titled, "New evidence on the end of the Cold War and its legacy: missile defense, bioweapons and fissile material," at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, October 12 in Bowl 016, Robertson Hall, on the Princeton University campus. A book signing will immediately follow the talk.

Previously the bureau chief in Moscow for some years after the end of the Cold War, Hoffman is a published author and award-winning reporter who has covered the White House, Jerusalem and Moscow during his Washington Post career that began in 1982.

Hoffman came to Washington in 1977 to work for the Capitol Hill News Service. As a member of the Washington bureau of the San Jose Mercury News, he covered Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. In May 1982, he joined the Post to help cover the Reagan White House. He also covered the first two years of the George H.W. Bush presidency. His White House coverage won three national journalism awards.

After reporting on the State Department, he became Jerusalem bureau chief for the Washington Post in 1992. After studying the Russian language at Oxford University, he began six years in Moscow.

His most recent book, “The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and it's Dangerous Legacy” is about the end of the Cold War arms race and the fate of the weapons that were built for it.  He is also the author of "The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia," published in 2002.

This event is co-sponsored by the Woodrow Woodrow Wilson School and the Program on Science and Global Security. it is free and open to the public.