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Henry Kissinger and American Power: A Political Biography
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About Henry Kissinger And American Power: A Political
Product Description [Henry Kissinger and American Power] effectively separates the man from the myths." ―The Christian Science Monitor | Best books of August 2020The definitive biography of Henry Kissinger―at least for those who neither revere nor revile himOver the past six decades, Henry Kissinger has been America’s most consistently praised―and reviled―public figure. He was hailed as a “miracle worker” for his peacemaking in the Middle East, pursuit of détente with the Soviet Union, negotiation of an end to the Vietnam War, and secret plan to open the United States to China. He was assailed from the left and from the right for his indifference to human rights, complicity in the pointless sacrifice of American and Vietnamese lives, and reliance on deception and intrigue. Was he a brilliant master strategist―“the 20th century’s greatest 19th century statesman”―or a cold-blooded monster who eroded America’s moral standing for the sake of self-promotion?In this masterfully researched biography, the renowned diplomatic historian Thomas Schwartz offers an authoritative, and fair-minded, answer to this question. While other biographers have engaged in hagiography or demonology, Schwartz takes a measured view of his subject. He recognizes Kissinger’s successes and acknowledges that Kissinger thought seriously and with great insight about the foreign policy issues of his time, while also recognizing his failures, his penchant for backbiting, and his reliance on ingratiating and fawning praise of the president as a source of power. Throughout, Schwartz stresses Kissinger’s artful invention of himself as a celebrity diplomat and his domination of the medium of television news. He also notes Kissinger’s sensitivity to domestic and partisan politics, complicating―and undermining―the image of the far-seeing statesman who stands above the squabbles of popular strife. Rounded and textured, and rich with new insights into key dilemmas of American power, Henry Kissinger and American Power stands as an essential guide to a man whose legacy is as complex as the last sixty years of US history itself. Review "A very fine political biography . . . Schwartz also separates his work from most others. He tackles an angle that is often overlooked in the never-receding field of Kissingerology: how domestic political concerns and necessities inform and shape foreign policy discourse and policies. In Schwartz’s apt and original rendering, Kissinger the realist intellectual is in fact a quintessential 'political actor'." ―Mario Del Pero, The Washington Post"Drawing on a vast amount of primary sources (including interviews with the man himself), Schwartz carefully charts Kissinger's evolution as one of the 20th century's most controversial statesmen . . . Throughout all this, Schwartz always remembers to add darkly fascinating personal elements." ―Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor"This intellectually challenging but masterfully written biography focuses on Kissinger's political life, especially the 'personalization' of foreign affairs that he came to typify . . . A sophisticated, well-textured study of a major figure in American political history." ―Mark Levine, Booklist (starred review)"[A] deeply researched, first-rate narrative . . . [Schwartz] bridges those who accuse Kissinger of being a war criminal for his politics toward Vietnam, Cambodia, and Chile, and those who praise his negotiations with China, the Soviet Union, and the Middle East . . . [A] richly detailed investigation." ―Karl Helicher, Library Journal (starred review)"An accessible account which more than fulfils its . . . objective of reintroducing Kissinger to a younger generation . . . [Schwartz's] assessment is balanced, steering a course between the thundering moral condemnation and extreme praise which alternately characterize much of the existing literature . . . Precisely because the author’s approach lacks the rhetorical bombast of other accounts, some criticisms
