The Politics of Truth

The Politics of Truth
Author(s)	Joseph C. Wilson
Original title	The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir
Cover artist	Linda Kosarin
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Memoir
Publisher	Carroll & Graf
Publication date	April 30, 2004 (Hardcover) April 10, 2005 (Paperback)
Media type	Print (Hardcover; Paperback)
Pages	528; 517 + xlix
ISBN	ISBN 078671378X (10) & ISBN 978-0786713783 (13) [hardcover] ISBN 0786715510 (10) & ISBN 978-0786715510 (13) [paperback]
OCLC Number	54966142
Dewey Decimal	327.73/0092 B 22
LC Classification	JK468.E7 W55 2004

The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004; paperback ed., 2005), by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, was first published as a hardcover edition in 2004.

Both a political and personal memoir, Wilson's autobiographical account of over two decades of his life in foreign service includes detailed descriptions of his extensive diplomatic, including his career, his first two marriages, and his courtship and marriage to Valerie Plame, his third and current wife. Primarily, however, the book is a detailed narrative of the events leading to his decision to go public with his criticisms of the George W. Bush administration and its aftermath, extended in appendices of chronological "timelines" and "Newspaper Commentaries Published by Ambassador Joseph Wilson Before and After the United States Invasion of Iraq in 2003" (461-86).

The book includes a Bibliography (487-96) and a detailed index (497-517).

The 2005 paperback edition, subtitled Inside the Lies that Put the White House on Trial and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity, is "Updated with a New Preface by the Author ("Anatomy of a Smear" [li-lxix]) and an Investigative Report on the Niger Documents Affair by Russ Hoyle" ("The Niger Affair: The Investigation That Won't Go Away" [xiii-xlix]).

Wilson's dedications read:

To my wife Valerie, I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am for what your government has done to you. If I could give you back your anonymity I would do so in a minute.

To Sabrina and Joe, who experienced so many of these adventures with me.

To Trevor and Samantha, in the hopes that by reading this you will gain some insight into events that took place before you could understand their significance.

To Dad and Mom, who will never read this but who, as Marines, did their best to teach me the meaning of duty to country.

The epigraph is from The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri:

The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.