Overview
Drawing on new interviews and previously unavailable documents, James Mann offers a fresh and compelling narrative--a new history assessing what Ronald Reagan did and did not do to help bring America's four-decade conflict with the Soviet Union to a close. As he did so masterfully in Rise of the Vulcans, Mann sheds new light on the hidden aspects of American foreign policy. He reveals previously undisclosed secret messages between Reagan and Moscow; internal White House intrigues; and battles with leading figures such as Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, who repeatedly questioned Reagan's unfolding diplomacy with Mikhail Gorbachev. He details the background and fierce debate over Reagan's famous Berlin Wall speech and shows how it fit into Reagan's policies. Ultimately, Mann dispels the facile stereotypes of Reagan in favor of a levelheaded, cogent understanding of a determined president and his strategy. This book finally answers the troubling questions about Reagan's actual role in the crumbling of Soviet power. Mann concludes that by recognizing the significance of Gorbachev, Reagan helped bring the Cold War to a close.
Full Product Details
Author: James Mann ,
Alan Sklar
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Imprint: Tantor Audio
Edition: Library Edition
ISBN: 9798200125586
Publication Date: 19 March 2009
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Audio
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
"A lively and well-researched examination of an important period in American diplomatic history.-- ""The Boston Globe"" ""All of those who have written about Reagan have found their subject elusive. How can the affable, anecdote-telling actor and the principled, thoughtful statesman be the same person? Mann...does a superb job of explaining how Reagan helped change the world."" -- ""Dallas Morning News"" ""An extraordinary account of Ronald Reagan's approach to the Soviet Union that sheds considerable light on the end of the Cold War."" -- ""Foreign Affairs"" ""Were Ronald Reagan's efforts to end the Cold War really the result of his handlers? Hardly, as Mann makes a persuasive case for Reagan's negotiation skills and plans in confronting the Soviet Untion."" -- ""Los Angeles Times"""
Author Information
James Mann is the author of the New York Times bestseller Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet and The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression, among others. He is currently author-in-residence in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Mann has also served as staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, and other publications. He has earned a number of awards, including the New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award for best book of the year by a journalist and the Asia-Pacific Award for the best book about Asia. Alan Sklar, a graduate of Dartmouth, is an award-winning voice actor. He has also worked as a stage actor and as an announcer at WPIX-TV in New York City.
