Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power
From AwardAnnals
| Book: | Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power |
|---|---|
| Author: | Robert Dallek |
| Honors: | |
| Genres: | |
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger were two of the most compelling, contradictory, and important leaders in America in the second half of the twentieth century. Both were largely self-made men, brimming with ambition and often ruthless in pursuit of their goals.
Tapping into recently disclosed documents and tapes, Robert Dallek uncovers fascinating details about Nixon and Kissinger’s tumultuous personal relationship—their collaboration and rivalry—and the extent to which they struggled to outdo each other in the reach of foreign policy achievements. He also brilliantly analyzes their dealings with power brokers at home and abroad, including the nightmare of Vietnam, the brilliant opening to China, détente with the Soviet Union, the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East, the disastrous overthrow of Allende in Chile, and growing tensions between India and Pakistan, while recognizing how both men were continually plotting to distract the American publics attention away from the growing scandal of Watergate.
Authoritative, illuminating, and deeply engrossing, Nixon and Kissinger gives us a new understanding of just how important and consequential these two men were in affecting world history.
| Find it: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
Reviews
Barnes and Noble
Histories of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, that Cold War odd couple, hold intrinsic interest, but Robert Dallek’s book possesses a significance all its own. Many of its sources are unprecedented: National Security files for both men; thousands of hours of taped conversations; tens of thousands of pages of telephone transcripts. And the revelations of Nixon and Kissinger dwarf predecessor studies. Dallek argues persuasively that domestic politics and foreign policy illusions unnecessarily prolonged the Vietnam War by at least three years. He also reveals for the first time the discussions and strategies behind the administration’s assault on the Allende government of Chile, and he explores the deep roots of Nixon-Kissinger policies toward China and Russia. History buffs will be struck by Dallek’s counterintuitive argument that these two sometimes ruthless power brokers both suffered from radically low self-esteem.
