KISSINGER 1923-1968: The Idealist

Hailed by some as the 'indispensable man' whose advice has been sought by every president from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger has also attracted immense hostility from critics who have cast him as an amoral Machiavellian, the ultimate cold-blooded 'realist'. In this remarkable book, Niall Ferguson has created an extraordinary panorama of Kissinger's world, and a paradigm-shifting reappraisal of the man. Only through knowledge of his early life as a Jew in Hitler's Germany, a poor immigrant in New York, a GI at the Battle of the Bulge, an interrogator of Nazis, and a student of history at Harvard, can we understand Kissinger's debt to the philosophy of idealism. And only by tracing his rise, fall and revival as an adviser to Kennedy, Nelson Rockefeller and finally Richard Nixon can we appreciate the magnitude of his contribution to the theory of diplomacy, grand strategy and nuclear deterrence. Drawing not only on Kissinger's hitherto closed private papers but also on documents from more than a hundred archives around the world, this biography is a masterpiece which casts dazzling new light on an entire era. It was a trip to Vietnam that changed everything, and this essential account of an extraordinary life recasts the Cold War world and the Cuban Missile Crisis. 986pp in a magnificent Penguin softback, many photos. A book for every student of the history of our times.