Kissinger: 1923 – 1968: The Idealist

Just the mention of his surname, or its initial, is enough to set off a raging debate. For no other figure has so divided the discussion of modern foreign affairs than Henry Kissinger. Peace-seeker, war-maker, celebrity diplomat, confidante to an epoch — Kissinger is all that and more in the first volume of Niall Ferguson’s sweeping, probing and penetrating study of the man. From the frontline of World War 2 to the fulcrum of the White House, from Harvard to Hanoi, Ferguson employs his extraordinary access to Kissinger’s private archives to shine a fresh light on the man we all think we know, and yet scarcely understand.