Author: Michael Beschloss
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504039343
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 496
Book Description
The landmark story of Bush-Gorbachev diplomacy: “No one has ever given as complete and compelling an account of the higher reaches of foreign policy” (Time). December 1989. The Berlin Wall had fallen. Millions across the Eastern Bloc were enjoying new freedoms. And the USSR was falling apart. But the peaceful end of the Cold War was far from assured, requiring the leaders of rival superpowers to look beyond the animosities of the past and embrace an uncertain future. At the Highest Levels is the fascinating story of that unlikely partnership, a real-time exposé of the negotiations between US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. Granted extraordinary access to private conversations and closed-door meetings at the Kremlin, White House, Pentagon, CIA, and KGB, Michael Beschloss and Strobe Talbott reveal the high-stakes international diplomacy that ended the nuclear arms race and decades of proxy wars. The result is “an accurate first draft of the Cold War’s last days,” wrote David Remnick in the New Yorker, “filled with gaudy historical riches.” Each an acclaimed author in his own right, Beschloss and Talbott together deliver journalism at its best: an “intimate and utterly absorbing” record of this critical meeting of minds (The New York Times).
At the Highest Levels
At the Highest Levels
Author: Michael R. Beschloss
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780316092814
Category : Cold War
Languages : en
Pages : 514
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780316092814
Category : Cold War
Languages : en
Pages : 514
Book Description
Michael Beschloss on the Cold War
Author: Michael Beschloss
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 150405668X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1133
Book Description
Riveting accounts of the Cold War power struggles from the New York Times–bestselling author and “nation’s leading presidential historian” (Newsweek). The Crisis Years: A national bestseller on the complex relationship between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, this “definitive” history covers the tumultuous period from 1960 through 1963 when the Berlin Wall was built, and the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the United States and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war (David Remnick, The New Yorker). “Impressively researched and engrossingly narrated.” —Los Angeles Times Mayday: On May Day 1960, Soviet forces downed a CIA U-2 spy plane flown by Francis Gary Powers, two weeks before a crucial summit. This forced President Dwight Eisenhower to decide whether to admit to Nikita Khrushchev—and the world—that he had secretly ordered the flight. Drawing on previously unavailable CIA documents, diaries, and letters, as well as the recollections of Eisenhower’s aides, Beschloss reveals the full high-stakes drama. “One of the best stories yet written about just how those grand men of diplomacy and intrigue conducted our business.” —Time At the Highest Levels: Cowritten with Strobe Talbott, At the Highest Levels exposes the complex negotiations between President George Bush and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. In December 1989, the Berlin Wall had fallen, millions across the Eastern Bloc were enjoying new freedoms, and the USSR was crumbling. But a peaceful end to the Cold War was far from assured, requiring an unlikely partnership, as the leaders of rival superpowers had to look beyond the animosities of the past and embrace an uncertain future. “Intimate and utterly absorbing.” —The New York Times
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 150405668X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1133
Book Description
Riveting accounts of the Cold War power struggles from the New York Times–bestselling author and “nation’s leading presidential historian” (Newsweek). The Crisis Years: A national bestseller on the complex relationship between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, this “definitive” history covers the tumultuous period from 1960 through 1963 when the Berlin Wall was built, and the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the United States and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war (David Remnick, The New Yorker). “Impressively researched and engrossingly narrated.” —Los Angeles Times Mayday: On May Day 1960, Soviet forces downed a CIA U-2 spy plane flown by Francis Gary Powers, two weeks before a crucial summit. This forced President Dwight Eisenhower to decide whether to admit to Nikita Khrushchev—and the world—that he had secretly ordered the flight. Drawing on previously unavailable CIA documents, diaries, and letters, as well as the recollections of Eisenhower’s aides, Beschloss reveals the full high-stakes drama. “One of the best stories yet written about just how those grand men of diplomacy and intrigue conducted our business.” —Time At the Highest Levels: Cowritten with Strobe Talbott, At the Highest Levels exposes the complex negotiations between President George Bush and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. In December 1989, the Berlin Wall had fallen, millions across the Eastern Bloc were enjoying new freedoms, and the USSR was crumbling. But a peaceful end to the Cold War was far from assured, requiring an unlikely partnership, as the leaders of rival superpowers had to look beyond the animosities of the past and embrace an uncertain future. “Intimate and utterly absorbing.” —The New York Times
The Crisis Years
Author: Michael Beschloss
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504039378
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 801
Book Description
The groundbreaking and revelatory tale of the most dangerous years of the Cold War and the two leaders who held the fate of the world in their hands. This bestselling history takes us into the tumultuous period from 1960 through 1963 when the Berlin Wall was built and the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the United States and Soviet Union to the abyss. In this compelling narrative, author Michael Beschloss, praised by Newsweek as “the nation’s leading Presidential historian,” draws on declassified American documents and interviews with Kennedy aides and Soviet sources to reveal the inner workings of the CIA, Pentagon, White House, KGB, and politburo, and show us the complex private relationship between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Beschloss discards previous myths to show how the miscalculations and conflicting ambitions of those leaders caused a nuclear confrontation that could have killed tens of millions of people. Among the cast of characters are Robert Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Adlai Stevenson, Fidel Castro, Willy Brandt, Leonid Brezhnev, and Andrei Gromyko. The Bay of Pigs invasion, the Vienna Summit, the Berlin Crisis, and what followed are rendered with urgency and intimacy as the author puts these dangerous years in the context of world history. “Impressively researched and engrossingly narrated” (Los Angeles Times), The Crisis Years brings to vivid life a crucial epoch in a book that David Remnick of the New Yorker has called the “definitive” history of John F. Kennedy and the Cold War.
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504039378
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 801
Book Description
The groundbreaking and revelatory tale of the most dangerous years of the Cold War and the two leaders who held the fate of the world in their hands. This bestselling history takes us into the tumultuous period from 1960 through 1963 when the Berlin Wall was built and the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the United States and Soviet Union to the abyss. In this compelling narrative, author Michael Beschloss, praised by Newsweek as “the nation’s leading Presidential historian,” draws on declassified American documents and interviews with Kennedy aides and Soviet sources to reveal the inner workings of the CIA, Pentagon, White House, KGB, and politburo, and show us the complex private relationship between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Beschloss discards previous myths to show how the miscalculations and conflicting ambitions of those leaders caused a nuclear confrontation that could have killed tens of millions of people. Among the cast of characters are Robert Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Adlai Stevenson, Fidel Castro, Willy Brandt, Leonid Brezhnev, and Andrei Gromyko. The Bay of Pigs invasion, the Vienna Summit, the Berlin Crisis, and what followed are rendered with urgency and intimacy as the author puts these dangerous years in the context of world history. “Impressively researched and engrossingly narrated” (Los Angeles Times), The Crisis Years brings to vivid life a crucial epoch in a book that David Remnick of the New Yorker has called the “definitive” history of John F. Kennedy and the Cold War.
Presidents of War
Author: Michael Beschloss
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307409619
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 754
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From a preeminent presidential historian comes a “superb and important” (The New York Times Book Review) saga of America’s wartime chief executives “Fascinating and heartbreaking . . . timely . . . Beschloss’s broad scope lets you draw important crosscutting lessons about presidential leadership.”—Bill Gates Widely acclaimed and ten years in the making, Michael Beschloss’s Presidents of War is an intimate and irresistibly readable chronicle of the Chief Executives who took the United States into conflict and mobilized it for victory. From the War of 1812 to Vietnam, we see these leaders considering the difficult decision to send hundreds of thousands of Americans to their deaths; struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, and antiwar protesters; seeking comfort from their spouses and friends; and dropping to their knees in prayer. Through Beschloss’s interviews with surviving participants and findings in original letters and once-classified national security documents, we come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war—or were broken by them. Presidents of War combines this sense of immediacy with the overarching context of two centuries of American history, traveling from the time of our Founders, who tried to constrain presidential power, to our modern day, when a single leader has the potential to launch nuclear weapons that can destroy much of the human race. Praise for Presidents of War "A marvelous narrative. . . . As Beschloss explains, the greatest wartime presidents successfully leaven military action with moral concerns. . . . Beschloss’s writing is clean and concise, and he admirably draws upon new documents. Some of the more titillating tidbits in the book are in the footnotes. . . . There are fascinating nuggets on virtually every page of Presidents of War. It is a superb and important book, superbly rendered.”—Jay Winik, The New York Times Book Review "Sparkle and bite. . . . Valuable and engrossing study of how our chief executives have discharged the most significant of all their duties. . . . Excellent. . . . A fluent narrative that covers two centuries of national conflict.” —Richard Snow, The Wall Street Journal
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307409619
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 754
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From a preeminent presidential historian comes a “superb and important” (The New York Times Book Review) saga of America’s wartime chief executives “Fascinating and heartbreaking . . . timely . . . Beschloss’s broad scope lets you draw important crosscutting lessons about presidential leadership.”—Bill Gates Widely acclaimed and ten years in the making, Michael Beschloss’s Presidents of War is an intimate and irresistibly readable chronicle of the Chief Executives who took the United States into conflict and mobilized it for victory. From the War of 1812 to Vietnam, we see these leaders considering the difficult decision to send hundreds of thousands of Americans to their deaths; struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, and antiwar protesters; seeking comfort from their spouses and friends; and dropping to their knees in prayer. Through Beschloss’s interviews with surviving participants and findings in original letters and once-classified national security documents, we come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war—or were broken by them. Presidents of War combines this sense of immediacy with the overarching context of two centuries of American history, traveling from the time of our Founders, who tried to constrain presidential power, to our modern day, when a single leader has the potential to launch nuclear weapons that can destroy much of the human race. Praise for Presidents of War "A marvelous narrative. . . . As Beschloss explains, the greatest wartime presidents successfully leaven military action with moral concerns. . . . Beschloss’s writing is clean and concise, and he admirably draws upon new documents. Some of the more titillating tidbits in the book are in the footnotes. . . . There are fascinating nuggets on virtually every page of Presidents of War. It is a superb and important book, superbly rendered.”—Jay Winik, The New York Times Book Review "Sparkle and bite. . . . Valuable and engrossing study of how our chief executives have discharged the most significant of all their duties. . . . Excellent. . . . A fluent narrative that covers two centuries of national conflict.” —Richard Snow, The Wall Street Journal
The Conquerors
Author: Michael R. Beschloss
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9780743244541
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 420
Book Description
As Allied soldiers fought the Nazis, Franklin Roosevelt and, later, Harry Truman fought in private with Churchill and Stalin over how to ensure that Germany could never threaten the world again.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9780743244541
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 420
Book Description
As Allied soldiers fought the Nazis, Franklin Roosevelt and, later, Harry Truman fought in private with Churchill and Stalin over how to ensure that Germany could never threaten the world again.
Mayday
Author: Michael Beschloss
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 150403936X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 493
Book Description
The “definitive” book on the U-2 episode and its disastrous impact on the future of the Cold War (Kirkus Reviews). On May Day 1960, Soviet forces downed a CIA spy plane flown deep into Soviet territory by Francis Gary Powers two weeks before a crucial summit. This forced President Dwight Eisenhower to decide whether, in an effort to save the meeting, to admit to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev—and the world—that he had secretly ordered Powers’s flight, or to claim that the CIA could take such a significant step without his approval. In rich and fascinating detail, Mayday explores the years of U-2 flights, which Eisenhower deemed “an act of war,” the US government’s misconceived attempt to cover up the true purpose of the flight, Khrushchev’s dramatic revelation that Powers was alive and in Soviet custody, and the show trial that sentenced the pilot to prison and hard labor. From a U-2’s cramped cockpit to tense meetings in the Oval Office, the Kremlin, Camp David, CIA headquarters, the Élysée Palace, and Number Ten Downing Street, historian Michael Beschloss draws on previously unavailable CIA documents, diaries, and letters, as well as the recollections of Eisenhower’s aides, to reveal the full high-stakes drama and bring to life its key figures, which also include Richard Nixon, Allen Dulles, and Charles de Gaulle. An impressive work of scholarship with the dramatic pacing a spy thriller, Mayday “may be one of the best stories yet written about just how those grand men of diplomacy and intrigue conducted our business” (Time).
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 150403936X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 493
Book Description
The “definitive” book on the U-2 episode and its disastrous impact on the future of the Cold War (Kirkus Reviews). On May Day 1960, Soviet forces downed a CIA spy plane flown deep into Soviet territory by Francis Gary Powers two weeks before a crucial summit. This forced President Dwight Eisenhower to decide whether, in an effort to save the meeting, to admit to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev—and the world—that he had secretly ordered Powers’s flight, or to claim that the CIA could take such a significant step without his approval. In rich and fascinating detail, Mayday explores the years of U-2 flights, which Eisenhower deemed “an act of war,” the US government’s misconceived attempt to cover up the true purpose of the flight, Khrushchev’s dramatic revelation that Powers was alive and in Soviet custody, and the show trial that sentenced the pilot to prison and hard labor. From a U-2’s cramped cockpit to tense meetings in the Oval Office, the Kremlin, Camp David, CIA headquarters, the Élysée Palace, and Number Ten Downing Street, historian Michael Beschloss draws on previously unavailable CIA documents, diaries, and letters, as well as the recollections of Eisenhower’s aides, to reveal the full high-stakes drama and bring to life its key figures, which also include Richard Nixon, Allen Dulles, and Charles de Gaulle. An impressive work of scholarship with the dramatic pacing a spy thriller, Mayday “may be one of the best stories yet written about just how those grand men of diplomacy and intrigue conducted our business” (Time).
Presidential Courage
Author: Michael R. Beschloss
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743257448
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 476
Book Description
From the author "Newsweek" called the nations leading presidential historian comes an inspiring narrative chronicling the crucial moments when a courageous president has dramatically changed the future of the United States. of full-color photos.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743257448
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 476
Book Description
From the author "Newsweek" called the nations leading presidential historian comes an inspiring narrative chronicling the crucial moments when a courageous president has dramatically changed the future of the United States. of full-color photos.
Kennedy and Roosevelt
Author: Michael Beschloss
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504039351
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 307
Book Description
The revealing story of Franklin Roosevelt, Joe Kennedy, and a political alliance that changed history, from a New York Times–bestselling author. When Franklin Roosevelt ran for president in 1932, he gained the support of Joseph Kennedy, a little-known businessman with Wall Street connections. Instrumental in Roosevelt’s victory, their partnership began a longstanding alliance between two of America’s most ambitious power brokers. Kennedy worked closely with FDR as the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and later as ambassador to Great Britain. But at the outbreak of World War II, sensing a threat to his family and fortune, Kennedy lobbied against American intervention—putting him in direct conflict with Roosevelt’s intentions. Though he retreated from the spotlight to focus on the political careers of his sons, Kennedy’s relationship with Roosevelt would eventually come full circle in 1960, when Franklin Roosevelt Jr. campaigned for John F. Kennedy’s presidential win. With unprecedented access to Kennedy’s private diaries as well as firsthand interviews with Roosevelt’s family and White House aides, New York Times–bestselling author Michael Beschloss—called “the nation’s leading presidential historian” by Newsweek—presents an insightful study in contrasts. Roosevelt, the scion of a political dynasty, had a genius for the machinery of government; Kennedy, who built his own fortune, was a political outsider determined to build a dynasty of his own. From the author of The Conquerors and Presidential Courage, this is a “fascinating account of the complex, ambiguous relationship of two shrewd, ruthless, power-hungry men” (The New York Times Book Review).
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504039351
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 307
Book Description
The revealing story of Franklin Roosevelt, Joe Kennedy, and a political alliance that changed history, from a New York Times–bestselling author. When Franklin Roosevelt ran for president in 1932, he gained the support of Joseph Kennedy, a little-known businessman with Wall Street connections. Instrumental in Roosevelt’s victory, their partnership began a longstanding alliance between two of America’s most ambitious power brokers. Kennedy worked closely with FDR as the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and later as ambassador to Great Britain. But at the outbreak of World War II, sensing a threat to his family and fortune, Kennedy lobbied against American intervention—putting him in direct conflict with Roosevelt’s intentions. Though he retreated from the spotlight to focus on the political careers of his sons, Kennedy’s relationship with Roosevelt would eventually come full circle in 1960, when Franklin Roosevelt Jr. campaigned for John F. Kennedy’s presidential win. With unprecedented access to Kennedy’s private diaries as well as firsthand interviews with Roosevelt’s family and White House aides, New York Times–bestselling author Michael Beschloss—called “the nation’s leading presidential historian” by Newsweek—presents an insightful study in contrasts. Roosevelt, the scion of a political dynasty, had a genius for the machinery of government; Kennedy, who built his own fortune, was a political outsider determined to build a dynasty of his own. From the author of The Conquerors and Presidential Courage, this is a “fascinating account of the complex, ambiguous relationship of two shrewd, ruthless, power-hungry men” (The New York Times Book Review).
They Call It Diplomacy
Author: Peter Westmacott
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1800240988
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
The memoirs of senior UK diplomat Sir Peter Westmacott, former ambassador in Turkey, France and the United States during Barack Obama's presidency. 'A highly readable account of a glittering diplomatic career' Tony Blair 'One of the most brilliant and consequential diplomats of his generation' Andrew Roberts 'A must-read guide to the crucial role for diplomacy in restoring British influence' Philip Stephens Urbane, globe-trotting mandarins; polished hosts of ambassadorial gatherings attended by the well-groomed ranks of the international great and good: such is the well-worn image of the career diplomat. But beyond the canapés of familiar caricature, what does a professional diplomat actually do? What are the activities that fill the working day of Her Majesty's Ambassadors around the world? Peter Westmacott's forty-year career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office straddled the last decade of the Cold War and the age of globalization, included spells in pre-revolutionary Iran and the European Commission in Brussels, and culminated in prestigious ambassadorial postings in Ankara, Paris and Washington in the post-9/11 era. As well as offering an engaging account of life in the upper echelons of the diplomatic and political worlds, and often revealing portraits of global leaders such as Blair, Erdogan, Obama and Biden, They Call It Diplomacy mounts a vigorous defence of the continuing relevance of the diplomat in an age of instant communication, social media and special envoys; and details what its author sees as some of the successes of recent British diplomacy.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1800240988
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
The memoirs of senior UK diplomat Sir Peter Westmacott, former ambassador in Turkey, France and the United States during Barack Obama's presidency. 'A highly readable account of a glittering diplomatic career' Tony Blair 'One of the most brilliant and consequential diplomats of his generation' Andrew Roberts 'A must-read guide to the crucial role for diplomacy in restoring British influence' Philip Stephens Urbane, globe-trotting mandarins; polished hosts of ambassadorial gatherings attended by the well-groomed ranks of the international great and good: such is the well-worn image of the career diplomat. But beyond the canapés of familiar caricature, what does a professional diplomat actually do? What are the activities that fill the working day of Her Majesty's Ambassadors around the world? Peter Westmacott's forty-year career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office straddled the last decade of the Cold War and the age of globalization, included spells in pre-revolutionary Iran and the European Commission in Brussels, and culminated in prestigious ambassadorial postings in Ankara, Paris and Washington in the post-9/11 era. As well as offering an engaging account of life in the upper echelons of the diplomatic and political worlds, and often revealing portraits of global leaders such as Blair, Erdogan, Obama and Biden, They Call It Diplomacy mounts a vigorous defence of the continuing relevance of the diplomat in an age of instant communication, social media and special envoys; and details what its author sees as some of the successes of recent British diplomacy.