Book Description
A master spy's memoir of playing the game in the most strategically influential country in 1960s Africa.
Larry Devlin arrived as the new chief of station for the CIA in the Congo five days after the country had declared its independence, the army had mutinied, and governmental authority had collapsed. As he crossed the Congo River in an almost empty ferry boat, all he could see were lines of people trying to travel the other way--out of the Congo. Within his first two weeks he found himself on the wrong end of a revolver as militiamen played Russian-roulette, Congo style, with him.
During his first year, the charismatic and reckless political leader, Patrice Lumumba, was murdered and Devlin was widely thought to have been entrusted with (he was) and to have carried out (he didn't) the assassination. Then he saved the life of Joseph Desire Mobutu, who carried out the military coup that presaged his own rise to political power. Devlin found himself at the heart of Africa, fighting for the future of perhaps the most strategically influential country on the continent, its borders shared with eight other nations. He met every significant political figure, from presidents to mercenaries, as he took the Cold War to one of the world's hottest zones. This is a classic political memoir from a master spy who lived in wildly dramatic times.
Customer Reviews:
CoS Congo.......2007-08-09
An excellent biography, discusses what happened during the Cold War in the Congo from his point of view. I found it an enjoyable read.
Exciting times.......2007-07-05
A good book giving an overall flavor of the Congo in the early 60's. It would be nice if Devlin had filled in more details however perhaps this is proscribed in his publishing agreement (I presume that he had to run this through the CIA before publishing it). You do get an idea of just what a CIA COS does to try to guide events to follow US policy. He's rather blase about the physical risks of operating in an unstable environment although maybe this is because he survived to tell the tale. I don't think that I would have my family at my side in such an environment.
Charts his many encounters and is a top pick.......2007-06-17
Author Larry Devlin arrived as the new chief of station for the CIA in the Congo five days after the country declared its independence, the army mutinied, and the government had collapsed: as he entered the country, streams of residents were fleeing. During his first year he was accused of murdering a charismatic political leader, saved the life of the man who carried out the military coup, and found himself confronting unheard-of challenges in Africa. CHIEF OF STATION, CONGO charts his many encounters and is a top pick especially recommended for college-level and military holdings strong in African culture and history.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
-.......2007-06-12
A little too general, very maddening that he left out so many details. But a necessary read for those interested in the Congo in the 60's
History Lessons.......2007-06-07
This book rewards its readers with good deal of information on a variety of subjects. It undoubtedly provides a very accurate account of the struggle of the former Belgium Congo to become a variable nation state. In the course of doing this, its author provides a plausible description of the chaotic condition of an imploding nation state and its leading political players of the period, including the controversial Patrice Lumumba and the man who turned out to be his chief rival Sese Seko Mobutu. Finally the book opens a window on how the U.S -Soviet Union Clod War rivalry played out in an newly independent African state like the Congo.
On a rather different level, Larry Devlin provides a good explanation of what a pro-active CIA Station Chief (COS) of 1960 did to earn his keep. One can carry away a good deal of information about good `tradecraft', the use of non-official cover (NOC) agents, and the vital need for a close relationship between the COS and the U.S. Ambassador. For a long period Devlin was not only COS Kinshasa (Leopoldville), but also the only CIA representative in the Congo. As a result, he discloses quite a bit about the art and craft of recruiting and maintaining `agents' in the field. Although virtually all memoirs written by former intelligence folks tend to be somewhat self-serving, from this book it is clear that Devlin really was good at his job and did his best to protect the national security interests of U.S. and equally important to help the Congolese build a viable and independent nation state. That in the end the Congo continues to be a near failed state was due to factors well beyond Devlin's control.
The problem then as now of course is that a really good CIA operative like Devlin and a really poor operatives are treated pretty much the same way by CIA. The system is really designed to homogenize everyone into the same bland blend. Also it is clear that CIA of 2007 would never allow a COS the kind of freedom of action that Devlin had in 1960.
Anyone with an interest in Africa or the CIA or both ought to find this well written and informative book fascinating.
Average customer rating:
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Historical Dictionary of Georgia (Historical Dictionaries of Europe)
Alexander Mikaberidze
Manufacturer: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
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ASIN: 0810855801 |
Book Description
Dean Acheson was one of the most influential Secretaries of State in U.S. history, presiding over American foreign policy during a pivotal era--the decade after World War II when the American Century slipped into high gear. During his vastly influential career, Acheson spearheaded the greatest foreign policy achievements in modern times, ranging from the Marshall Plan to the establishment of NATO. Now, in this monumental biography, Robert L. Beisner paints an indelible portrait of one of the key figures of the last half-century. In a book filled with insight based on research in government archives, memoirs, letters, and diaries, Beisner illuminates Acheson's policy-making, describing how he led the state department and managed his relationship with Truman, all to illuminate the vital policies he initiated in his years at State. The book examines Acheson's major triumphs, including the highly underrated achievement of converting West Germany and Japan from mortal enemies to prized allies, and does not shy away from examining his missteps. But underlying all his actions, Beisner shows, was a tough-minded determination to outmatch the strength of the Soviet bloc--indeed, to defeat the Soviet Union at every turn. The emotional center of the book focuses on Acheson's friendship with Truman. No pair seemed so poorly matched--one, a bourbon-drinking mid-Westerner with a homespun disposition, the other, a mustachioed Connecticut dandy who preferred perfect martinis--yet no such team ever worked better together. Acheson's unstinting dedication to an often unpopular president was reciprocated with deep gratitude and loyalty. Together, they redrew the map of the post-war world. Over six foot tall, with steel blue, "merry, searching eyes" and a "wolfish" grin, Dean Acheson was an unforgettable character--intellectually brilliant, always debonair, and tough as tempered steel. This lustrous portrait of an immensely accomplished and colorful life is the epitome of the biographer's art.
Customer Reviews:
Statecraft.......2006-11-24
A very solid and balanced recounting of the career in power of one of the most important diplomatic figures of the past one hundred years. In his book, Professor Beisner wisely concentrates almost entirely on the twelve years Dean Acheson was in power in Washington, D.C.
The great issues grappled with in the immediate years after World War II still live with us today: Russia, Germany, Vietnam, Japan, North Korea, Israel, Iran, France, and China/Taiwan. If you are curious to know why some things are the way they are in today's world, read this book. The number of key foreign policy challenges that flew at this talented Secretary of State is astonishing.
Harry Truman's Secretary of State.......2006-10-15
Mr. Beiser is the author of several books on diplomacy ("American Foreign Relations Since 1600" -- 2003). This definitive and long (800 pages) biography of Dean Acheson, a Democratic player (through the Roosevelt and Truman administrations) and foreign affairs genius. As Truman's Secretary of State, he was present at the start of the post-war era and created the framework for the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, the occupation of the Axis countries and NATO. As a result, Mr. Acheson titled his memoirs, "Present at the Creation." The writing is engaging and interesting as is Mr. Acheson himself (he managed to alienate President Roosevelt). Though this book obviously can not be read at one setting, it is a good history tale.
Book Description
William K. Harvey was the CIA’s most daring and successful field operator during the tense, early days of the Cold War. Extremely intelligent, a dedicated martini drinker, coarse in manner and appearance, both loved and hated, he was larger than life. But just as Harvey reached his zenith, fate and personal flaws caused his swift, dramatic downfall. Bayard Stockton provides a rich portrait of the man, including accounts from Harvey’s family, friends, and former CIA colleagues who have never spoken publicly before.
Harvey’s intelligence career began at the FBI, where he hunted Nazi spies. After running afoul of J. Edgar Hoover, Harvey went to the fledgling CIA in 1947. Harvey’s CIA successes included the unmasking of Soviet spy Kim Philby and masterminding the famous Berlin Tunnel that tapped Russian communications. The pinnacle of Harvey’s career came as chief of both ZR/RIFLE, the agency’s political assassination operation, and Task Force W, the group targeted on Cuba. But Harvey was in constant conflict with Bobby Kennedy, who micromanaged operations against Fidel Castro. Harvey profanely insulted the president’s brother during a tense meeting, which led to Harvey’s reassignment to Rome. His alcoholism worsened in Italian exile, and he was forced to retire. He became a nonperson.
However, Harvey resurfaced during Senate hearings in the 1970s. When his supervision of the plots to assassinate Castro was revealed, many labeled Harvey the epitome of CIA excess. Harvey’s continuing friendship with Johnny Rosselli, a Mafia figure who had helped the CIA with Cuban operations, opened further questions as some—most notably Robert Blakey, former chief counsel to the House Subcommittee on Assassinations—linked Rosselli to JFK’s assassination.
Flawed Patriot cuts through the rumors and inaccuracies surrounding Harvey to show a brilliant but flawed man who was undoubtedly one of the most talented and imaginative officers in the agency’s storied history.
Customer Reviews:
A tough read.......2007-05-07
There's a lot of great info in this book, but unless you're REALLY into FBI/CIA/Bill Harvey, it's very dry reading. It jumps around a bit, but if you persevere, you'll find some interesting tidbits here and there.
A Brilliant Title.......2007-02-02
This book has a brilliant title. Bill Harvey was indeed a Patriot. And he certainly had flaws. His drinking was a problem from early in his life and combined with smoking was at least partly responsible for the heart attacks that killed him at the relatively early age of 61.
He was also not exactly what you would call a team player. He was fired by J. Edgar Hoover for breaking regulations. His relationship with Robert Kennedy might best be called hatred. While he did some brilliant work, like identifying Kim Philby as a KGB agent and the famous tunnel into East Berlin, his relationship with the Mafia and rumors about being involved in the JFK assassination are not the sort of things that help get promotions within an organization like the CIA.
This is both an interesting biography of a full fledged master spy, and a history of the early days of the CIA and the Cold War. The author worked for Harvey in Berlin for two years before becomming a journalist and now a biographer.
The CIA Legend part is correct.......2007-01-23
Flawed Patriot has a great topic in Bill Harvey. The author's direct knowledge seems to be based on Harvey's career in Germany . The research of the late Mr. Stockton of much of the career of Bill Harvey appeares flawed. The drama of Bill and CG's adoption of a daughter in Germany is in line with what they told my wife and me in Rome,Italy in the mid 1960s. The events surronding Bill's return to Washington from Rome are not fair and complete and appear to be based on interviews that lack some of the facts.
Based on my personal knowledge and my research as an intelligence scholar and professor, Flawed Patroit does no justice to the pioneering work of Bill Harvey in clandestine collection, covert action and technical intelligence operations. In my opinion, Bill Harvey ranks amond the Top Ten Clandestine Service Officers in the history of the Central Intelligence Agency.
A true American patriot deserves better than this........2007-01-16
Bill Harvey was a larger-than-life secret agent who bull-dogged his way through the corridors of power in WW-11 FBI (where his sin of not being instantly available to take Herbert Hoover's telephone call cost him Napoleon's blessings), the OSS and eventually the CIA.
The apotheosis of Harvey's career was conceiving of and managing the digging of the Berlin Tunnel in 1953--an audacious wire-tap of 172 telephone cables just over the border in East Berlin. Before the author gets to telling us this story, he foreshadows it many times as if he's already told it. When he does tell it, the tale is vague and incomplete. Little of the extreme tension is conveyed that this major espionage coup created among the band of agents who carried it out, and none of the exultation.
Harvey was an anomaly in the rising intelligence community. Just like those other genius mavericks--General Billy Mitchell, General George Patton, Col. Charlie Beckwith--he bucked his superiors to get things done, and like them, he was undone by the iron law of all bureaucracies-- that fealty is much more important than results. His resentment at Bobbie Kennedy's ultra micro-managing of the Bay of Pigs fiasco certainly contributed to its failure. It certainly scuttle Harvey's career. Yet what politician has ever learned the harsh lesson that others' are better at their jobs than they are--so let them do their jobs?
A serious 3-martini luncheon schmoozer, Harvey was adroit in finding and attracting talented cohorts. He built up highly loyal groups in spite of the usual internecine infighting that is the hallmark of all operational organizations. In the end his drinking got the better of him, and he was cast off like all such "failures."
This author (deceased) needed a rigorous editor to get his house in order. The work is a mish-mash of anecdotes and commentary, all presented in no particular order, as if a massive re-ordering of chapters had been undertaken at the last minute. Names appear out of nowhere as if we had already been introduced. Too bad. Bill Harvey was a true American patriot; he deserves better than this.
Book Description
What made Henry Kissinger the kind of diplomat he was? What experiences and influences shaped his worldview and provided the framework for his approach to international relations? Jeremi Suri offers a thought-provoking, interpretive study of one of the most influential and controversial political figures of the twentieth century.
Drawing on research in more than six countries in addition to extensive interviews with Kissinger and others, Suri analyzes the sources of Kissinger's ideas and power and explains why he pursued the policies he did. Kissinger's German-Jewish background, fears of democratic weakness, belief in the primacy of the relationship between the United States and Europe, and faith in the indispensable role America plays in the world shaped his career and his foreign policy. Suri shows how Kissinger's early years in Weimar and Nazi Germany, his experiences in the U.S. Army and at Harvard University, and his relationships with powerful patrons--including Nelson Rockefeller and Richard Nixon--shed new light on the policymaker.
Kissinger's career was a product of the global changes that made the American Century. He remains influential because his ideas are rooted so deeply in dominant assumptions about the world. In treating Kissinger fairly and critically as a historical figure, without polemical judgments, Suri provides critical context for this important figure. He illuminates the legacies of Kissinger's policies for the United States in the twenty-first century.
Customer Reviews:
What makes Dr K tick.......2007-09-08
Henry A. Kissinger, one of a handful of memorable secretaries of state, is a German-born Jew haunted by the failure of democracy in his birthplace and the subsequent failure of the world's democracies to stop the Nazi drive for mastery of Europe in the 1930s. Those failures made possible the massive slaughter of World War II, the nearly total destruction of Jewish life in Europe (which marked Kissinger personally)and in its aftermath left the United States and the exercise of its power the main arbiter of the world's fate. Stalin's Soviet Union, however, had other plans.
Kissinger did not view war with Soviet Russia as inevitable, nor did he regard Russian ambitions in Eastern and Central Europe as altogether unreasonable. But he did think that unless America was willing to project its power in strategic areas of the world, such as Europe and the Middle East, and confront Soviet ambitions in those areas, the Cold War would be lost with dire consequences for Americans.
Kissinger thought the Cold War would make strange bedfellows--reactionary kings, military dictators and strongman-types whose personal vanity outweighed any concern for the future of their people.
Kissinger was a supreme realist. He did not seek the make the world a better place, only a safer one for his adopted country and its friends.
His hero was Metternich, of Congress of Vienna and Balance of Power fame. There was no room for sentimentality, and not much room for public opinion, in his world view. Wars and rumors of wars were not only expected, but exploited by Kissinger, which his critics viewed as coldly cynical, immoral and in some cases (Vietnam, Chile) indifferent to human lives.
Kissinger owed his power, at the height of his career, to Richard M. Nixon, whose feelings toward Jews were mixed at best, bigoted at worst.
Oddly, his Jewish background was an asset in dealing with Arab rulers. They figured that American Jews dictated U.S. policy in the Mideast anyhow, so Kissinger essentially cut out the middle man.
The only weakness of the book is its brevity (less than 300 pages) which doesn't leave much room for analysis of complicated issues. Nuclear weapons negotiations are barely mentioned. None the less, an excellent introduction to a complex man who left a large imprint on America's place in the world.
A remarkable book about a remarkable man, a genuine 20th century iconoclast........2007-07-17
In "Henry Kissinger and the American Century," Jeremi Suri has chronicled the political history of arguably one of the world's most brilliant personalities. Suri's book leaves out much of Kissinger's personal history, beyond his childhood in Weimar and Nazi Germany, which is generally vague. "Henry Kissinger and the American Century" does, however, provide readers with the background necessary to begin to understand the man and his policies. Suri pays particular attention to Kissinger's skepticism of democracy, which truly helped shape those policies.
Henry Kissinger is a Cold War oracle, subject to the failings of the human condition as any of us, but arguably far more attuned to the strategic and political situation than anyone ever was.
Suri does not dodge logical criticisms and critics and provides a groundwork for understanding of Kissinger's philosophies. Reading the book, you might notice how just when you begin to forget Kissinger's German-Jewish childhood, Suri extols this fact in context throughout.
The book reveals Kissinger's innate ability to address both his genteel and gentile contemporaries. If any American in history ever leveraged their "outsider" status to the maximum and re-define the idea of an "insider", it was Kissinger.
The book is full of exceptional quotes from Kissinger, his influences and his contemporaries that are no less relevant in the War on Terror than they were in the Cold War.
REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ!
Book Description
In 1969, after his return from Vietnam, George Marrett took a job as a test pilot at Hughes Aircraft. For twenty years, he tested the most sophisticated airborne radar and missiles ever designed for advanced Navy and Air Force aircraft. Marrett's masterful command of storytelling puts the reader in the cockpit during the F-15, F-16, and F-18 weapons systems flyoff, as well as during the firing of a Mach 3 Phoenix missile from an F-14A Tomcat at a Soviet MiG Foxbat target. In addition to the weaponry, Marrett relives stories of espionage, deadly crashes, and the development of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber radar. He combines the thrill of test flying with the pathos, humor, and tragedy that is the everyday life of a test pilot, showing how the Cold War was actually won in the skies above Southern California. The background to Marrett's tale is the story of Hughes Aircraft. While Howard Hughes's huge and unwieldy Spruce Goose never made it into World War II, the Radio Department he started grew to become the electronics giant Hughes Aircraft Company. By the 1950s, Hughes Aircraft built airborne radar and missiles for all of the Air Force interceptors stationed on the East and West Coasts and along the border with Canada to defend the United States from Soviet bombers. In the years that followed, the company built airborne radar for the Navy F-14A Tomcat, the Air Force F-15A Eagle, the Navy F-18A Hornet and the B-2 stealth bomber. They also built the Navy air-to-air AIM-54 Phenix and the Air Force air-to-ground AGM-65 Maverick missiles. These advanced electronic weapons were developed and fielded during President Reagan's massive buildup of military might. Even though Hughes himself did not live to see the Berlin Wall fall in 1989, the company he built made an essential contribution to the collapse of communism.
Customer Reviews:
Fun Reading About A Dangerous Business.......2006-11-03
A great story about the testing of missles and the intergration of these missiles with the fighter aircraft of the era. George Marrett's style of writing makes for easy reading. He takes a highly technical subject and puts it into interesting narration for the layman to understand and enjoy.
Average customer rating:
- Real food for thought
- Shadows Skulls Spooks -- two books
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Shadows, Skulls, Spooks: Shadows Do No Harm, Shadow Governments Kill
Donald Jay Denton
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
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Shadows II, Skulls II & Spooks II
ASIN: 1419637231
Release Date: 2006-06-28 |
Book Description
In Nineteen fifty-five a Shadow Government was established by Executive Orders, and operated covertly with success for twenty years during the very warm Cold War. Then under pressure from Congress in Nineteen Seventy-five, new Executive Orders were issued to make the Shadow Government, with its Black Chamber operations, vanish. This secret operation remained nonexistent history until exposed in Two thousand and three. This is a story about sixteen naïve young people. Upon graduating from high school on one Memorial Day, they enlisted and became highly trained and qualified Master Assassins by the following Memorial Day. They were recruited to be deadly tools of the trade for a “One Nation under God” Shadow Government. The young people were displacement specialists for dispatching humanities hemorrhoids from the “nasty now and now” into the “sweet bye and bye.” They helped balance out the political “World Order” of things, and the valuable economic benefits of the U. S. of A. around the world.
Customer Reviews:
Real food for thought.......2007-06-05
Beyond the first few chapters this was an exciting and spellbinding book that I couldn't put down. There are lots of intriquing twists & turns about events that happened in my lifetime...very interesting....is this fact or fiction or some of both?
Shadows Skulls Spooks -- two books.......2007-05-23
Shadows, Skulls, and Spooks is a two-book fascinating tale of 16 talented young men recruited into a secret Shadow Government operation -- the Pooka Brigade -- trained to be efficient killers and then assigned to kill to protect our Country's regional, political, and economic interests. Half of the first Brigade survived and the best of them went on to assemble another Pooka Brigade (covered in Book II).
Established and, 20 years later, terminated by Executive Orders, their Black Chamber units functioned in extreme secrecy. You will feel the tension and intrigue as they carry out their unbelievable assignments.
Sigurd D. Medhus
Book Description
homas Goltz is one of the founders of the exclusive journalistic cadre of compulsive, danger-addicted voyeurs who court death to get the story. In a first-person narrative that reads like an adventure, he explores the war in Chechnya, and focuses on the Samashki Massacre, the symbol of Russian brutality employed to crush Chechen resistance. Goltz relates the saga of this small town (sort of a Grover's Corners of the Caucasus), as it is drawn into war, and the fate of Hussein, the leader of local resistance. Chechnya Diary is a crossover work that will satisfy both armchair travelers as well as political scientists, historians, and policy makers.
Customer Reviews:
For the Layman.......2006-02-01
This is the true story about the struggle the people of Chechnya are going through - a region I know little about. It is written through the eyes of a war correspondent - an occupation I know little about. Goltz brings some understanding to the layman with a direct, no-nonsense writing style that will capture your attention and send your senses reeling through sorrow, joy, dispair, hope and more. A must read for anyone who wants to gain some knowledge of the on-going struggle of Chechnya without wading through a dull textbook.
How we really feel.......2004-10-29
I'll state straight away that I count myself a an old and loyal friend of Thomas Goltz, and I'm a journalist too, so my five stars should perhaps seen in that context. But I believe they are well deserved, not least for the personal bravery the author displayed in getting the story. For me, this book's particular value is that for once it strips away the shield that we reporters feel necessary to arm ourselves with to protect ourselves from emotional involvement with the subjects of our reportage. This is the first time I read the account of someone who has faced up to naked realities of this situation. The result is a rare and compelling tale of the relationship between the interviewer and the interviewed, and set against a backdrop that shows how both sides behave and above all feel when trapped in forces outside their control.
An improvement .......2004-09-06
This book is a sign Goltz has matured since writing "Requiem" and "AZ Diary", and has found his niche. This is to say, maybe he's realized he isn't much for political synthesis or history. He has obviously done a lot of good and original thinking about journalistic ethics in wartime and the "Hawthorne effect"--these are the reasons you want to read this book.
There are a lot of books, historical and journalistic, in several languages, on Chechnya and this is the least exciting and informative of the ten or so of those I've read.
"Allah's Mountains", "Chechnya--Tombstone of Russian Power" and "Chechnya--A Short, Victorious War" are more interesting and written by less self-obsessed authors.
Excellent portal into a hellish conflict--and more.......2004-02-18
Chechnya Diary isn't your typical book about war. For one thing, it reads more like an adventure or a novel than straight history. It's also much more philosophical than I would have expected. The book begins with the quote, "The observer affects the observed," and boy is that statement ever borne out as the story unfolds.
Author Thomas Goltz sneaks into the country to cover the war, and ends up in a small town called Samashki, where he depends on the hospitality of a man named Hussein. Ostensibly there to record the fighting, Goltz soon becomes intimately involved, raising many tough questions about journalistic ethics and the effects of media war coverage.
The book really picks up steam in the second half, as Goltz returns to Chechnya to discover the damage his participation has caused, and tries to rectify it.
It's a thought-provoking book that provides background on the Chechnyan war but also goes far beyond that to dwell on how our shallow media culture affects our understanding of world events (and beyond that, how media coverage actually determines the course of those events as they play out). Goltz is a likable narrator who doesn't shy away from implicating himself when it comes to the sticky moral questions. He brings to life real Chechnyans in such vivid fashion that you'll remember them every time you hear about Chechnya in the news.
I had tears in my eyes as I finished the book. Highly recommended.
An eye-opening experience.......2004-01-23
Until I read 'Chechnya Diary' I was willing to accept what seemed to be conventional wisdom about the conflict in Chechnya--i.e., just another incidence of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. Mr. Goltz provides another view: i.e., an effort (at least initally) to restore to a displaced people the homeland of which they were deprived by the Stalinst regime. I also found it refreshing to read something by a journalist who is willing to acknowledge that his presence may have an impact on the turn of events. All in all, I think this is a most enlightening book and, like Mr. Goltz's 'Azerbaijan Diary', a terrific adventure story.
Book Description
Anatoly Dobrynin arrived in Washington in 1962--at age 43 the youngest man ever to serve as Soviet Ambassador to the United States--and remained through the presidencies of Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan. Dobrynin became the main channel for the White House and the Kremlin to exchange ideas, negotiate in secret, and arrange summit meetings. Dobrynin writes vividly of Moscow from inside the Politburo, but In Confidence is mainly a story of Washington at the highest levels.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating, but remember the regime he served.......2004-01-17
Prior to the Gorbachev era Soviet memoirs were stultifying party-line tomes that were virtually unreadable as serious history. Now we can read what Soviet diplomats really thought. Dobrynin's memoirs are fascinating because I have always wondered what he thought of Soviet/American relations and his American adversaries. Dobrynin thinks Bobby Kennedy was an immature alarmist. He has sympathy for Dean Rusk's despair over Viet Nam and Richard Nixon's fall over Watergate. He is amused by a pathetic attempt at a summit by a lame duck LBJ. He is frustrated by Carter and Reagan and bemused by Brezezinski's tough guy act towards the Soviet Union. Great stuff.
Dobrynin clearly loved being Soviet Ambassador to the US, particularly during the Nixon administation when Dobrynin had his famous "back channel" with Kissinger. Dobrynin could attend lavish embassy parties and enjoy freedom and celebrity status in the US. He is clearly bitter when Gorbachev recalled him and kicked him upstairs to a powerless post in the USSR. Dobrynin blames Gorbachev for diplomatic blunders that led to the fall of the Soviet Union. Dobynin's tone in his memoir is smooth and his book is well-written. He seems more like an ambassador from Britain and therein lies the greatest unstated paradox of Dobrynin's memoir: He represented the Soviet Union, not a democracy. Unlike Dobrynin, the people of the Soviet Union could not attend lavish parties, read, travel or speak freely. The nation that he repesented was a closed society that erected the Berlin Wall, indoctrinated its citizens in Marxist dogma and abused psychology and any science to keep its citizens obediant. The secret police used torture and imprisonment to enforce Communist rule. Dobrynin was a pillar of that system. This is why - despite all the anecdotes and bon mots - the most disturbing implication of Dobrynin's memoirs for me is that intelligent, cultured people like Dobrynin allow themselves to ammorally deny the humanity of others in the name of self-serving ambition.
Insightful.......2001-04-13
This book is an incredibly insightful and very balanced view of the Cold War and the warriors themselves, both in the USSR and the US. Dobrynin gives a balanced view of the mistakes that people in both countries made, as well as where they succeeded. I especially found the description of the Cuban Missile Crisis fascinating, as well as Moscow's reaction to Watergate and the resignation of Nixon.
Furthermore, this book helped me understand Andrei Gromyko and ---Brezhnev, two people whose names I've heard but I know little about. By reading this book, you will understand more about how the former Soviet government worked, the influence the Politburo had, and how they viewed the US.
What I liked best about this book was that it was balanced. Dobrynin never portrays a bias towards his country, indeed he often points out the errors that they make, and how he disagrees with them. Similarly, he is not at all "out to get" the US as the media portrays USSR/US relations. On the contrary, it is clear that he has much respect and affection for our country, which was his home for nearly 30 years.
The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5, is at times the subject matter would get slightly tedious. I understand that the main issue between the US and the USSR was nuclear arms treaties, however reading about them for 700 pages did tend to get me bogged down periodically.
I highly recommend reading this book for a first hand account of all the behind the scenes machinations between the man who was repeatedly the "confidential channel" between Washington and the Kremlin. Dobrynin was the only player from either country to be present at all summits between the US and the USSR during the Cold War, and was the Ambassador to the US during most of that time. As Presidents changed, and Party Secretaries in Moscow, Dobrynin was a constant. Read all about it here.
Book Description
In this memoir, Ambassador Ray Garthoff paints a dynamic diplomatic history of the cold war, tracing the life of the conflict from the vantage points of an observant insider. His intellectually formative years coincided with the earliest days of the cold war, and during his forty-year career, Garthoff participated in some of the most important policymaking of the twentieth century:
* In the late 1950s he carried out pioneering research on Soviet military affairs at the Rand Corporation. * During his four-year tenure at the CIA (1957-61), in addition to drafting national intellingence estimates, Garthoff made trips to the Soviet Union with Vice President Richard Nixon and as an interpreter for a delegation from the Atomic Energy Commission. * As a special assistant in the State Department, Garthoff worked with Secretary Dean Rusk., and he was directly involved in the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. Later he served as executive officer and senior State Department adviser for the strategic arms limitation talks (SALT) delegation. * In the 1970s he served as a senior Foreign Service inspector, leading missions to a number of countries around the globe. * As U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria (1977-79), Garthoff gained first-hand knowledge of the workings of a communist state and of the Soviet bloc. * In the 1980s, Garthoff wrote two major studies of American-Soviet relations. He traveled to the Soviet Union nearly a dozen times in the final decade of the cold war, and in the early 1990s he had access to the former Soviet Communist Party archives in Moscow.
Garthoff's journey through the Cold War informs the views, positions, and actions of the past. His anecdotes and observations will be of great value to those anticipating the challenges of reevaluating American post-cold war security policy.
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- Complete Works - 6 Volumes (Notable American Authors Series - Part I)
- Conscience of a Conservative
- Conversations with God : An Uncommon Dialogue (Book 1)
- Courage After Fire: Coping Strategies for Troops Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and Their Families
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- Crisis
- Cuban Death-Lift
- Day Of The Dragon-King (Magic Tree House 14, paper)
- Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America
- Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
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