{"product_id":"henry-kissinger-and-american-power-a-political-biography-9780809095377","title":"Henry Kissinger and American Power: A Political Biography","description":"\u003cp\u003eHenry Kissinger and American Power effectively separates the man from the myths. The Christian Science Monitor (Best Books of the Month)  The definitive biography of Henry Kissingerat least for those who neither revere nor revile him.  Over the past six decades  Henry Kissinger has been one of Americas most lavishly praisedand most reviledpublic figures. He was hailed as a miracle worker for his peacemaking in the Middle East  pursuit of dtente 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 both the left and the right for his complicity in the pointless sacrifice of American and Vietnamese lives  indifference to human rights  and reliance on deception and intrigue. Was he a brilliant master strategistthe 20th centurys greatest 19th-century statesman (Robert Kaplan  The Atlantic)or a cold-blooded monster who eroded Americas moral standing for the sake of self-promotion?  In this masterfully researched biography  the renowned diplomatic historian Thomas A. Schwartz offers an authoritative and evenhanded answer to this question. While other biographers have engaged in hagiography or demonology  Schwartz takes a measured view of his subject. He recognizes Kissingers important successes and insights into the foreign policy issues of his time  but also acknowledges his failures  his penchant for backbiting  and his reliance on ingratiating and fawning praise of the president as a source of his own power. Throughout  Schwartz stresses Kissingers artful invention of himself as a celebrity diplomat and his domination of the medium of television news. He also notes Kissingers sensitivity to domestic and partisan politics  complicatingand underminingthe image of the far-seeing statesman who stood above the squabbles of popular strife.  Rounded and textured  and rich with new insights into key dilemmas of American policy  Henry Kissinger and American Power is an essential guide to a man whose legacy is as complex as the last sixty years of U.S. history itself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45646677639221,"sku":"ByrdShop_0809095378","price":22.88,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780809095377.jpg?v=1781677145","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/henry-kissinger-and-american-power-a-political-biography-9780809095377","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}