Books like Reagan and Gorbachev by Jack F. Matlock

A revealing nonfiction account of how the Cold War’s arms race collapsed, detailing the Soviet “Dead Hand” system, biological weapons, and the diplomatic, military, and political forces that brought nuclear brinkmanship to an end.

In this controversial and monumental book - arguably his most important - Henry Kissinger illuminates just what diplomacy is. Moving from a sweeping overview of his own interpretation of history to personal accounts of his negotiations with world leaders, Kissinger describes the ways in which the art of diplomacy and the balance of power have created the world we live in, and shows how Americans, protected by the size and isolation of their country, as well as by their own idealism and mistrust of the Old World, have sought to conduct a unique kind of foreign policy based on the way they wanted the world to be, as opposed to the way it really is.

An unprecedented, handwritten record of President Ronald Reagan’s thoughts, activities, and interactions during his two terms, edited by Douglas Brinkley.

"Using the Star Wars missile defense program as a magnifying glass on his presidency, Frances FitzGerald gives us a wholly original portrait of Ronald Reagan, the most puzzling president of the last half of the twentieth century.". "The idea that America should have an impregnable shield against nuclear weapons was Reagan's invention. His famous Star Wars speech, in which he promised us such a shield and called upon scientists to produce it, gave rise to the Strategic Defense Initiative. Reagan used his sure understanding of American mythology, history and politics to persuade the country that a perfect defense against Soviet nuclear weapons would be possible, even though the technology did not exist and was not remotely feasible. His idea turned into a multi-billion-dollar research program. SDI played a central role in U.S.-Soviet relations at a crucial juncture in the Cold War, and in a different form it survives to this day.". "Drawing on research, including interviews with the participants, FitzGerald offers new insights into American foreign policy in the Reagan era. She gives us portraits of major players in Reagan's administration, including George Shultz, Caspar Weinberger, Donald Regan and Paul Nitze, and she provides a radically new view of what happened at the Reagan-Gorbachev summits in Geneva, Reykjavik, Washington and Moscow."--BOOK JACKET.

"The Cold War has spawned many interpreters over the years, but this comprehensive, accessible, richly illustrated volume is the first to benefit from the recent openings of Soviet, East European, and Chinese archives. Drawing on a wealth of recent scholarship and newly uncovered evidence, Sir Jeremy Isaacs and Taylor Downing are able to present for the first time what actually transpired in secret during some of the most crucial and terrifying moments of modern history. Cold War is complete with firsthand and eyewitness accounts by the people who shaped pivotal events, as well as glimpses into the lives of ordinary men and women threatened or safeguarded by those policies."--BOOK JACKET.