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George F. Kennan’s second volume of memoirs is Memoirs 1950-1963. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and of the National Book Award for History and Biography in 1968, this is the personal and professional record of one of America’s most distinguished diplomats. An intimate and thought-provoking account of diplomatic history, it may be the “single most valuable political book written by an American in the twentieth century.” (The New Republic). “[A] remarkably candid, beautifully written and utterly fascinating intellectual career autobiography of a distinguished diplomat and scholar... This is, in short, major history, and here augmented by selections from the author’s journal and his policy memorandums. It gives an intimate view of how policy, particularly that pertaining to Soviet-American affairs, was fashioned, influenced, criticized and implemented... through it all emerges the portrait of a brilliant man of keen observation, depth of knowledge and strong opinion.” — Eliot Fremont-Smith, The New York Times “[A] historically invaluable, often mercilessly candid ‘intellectual autobiography.’” — Murrey Marder, The Washington Post “These memoirs are expertly written, often fascinating... this is an important book, both as diplomatic history and as intellectual biography... Kennan is perhaps the most impressive figure ever to have emerged from the shadowy labyrinth of the American diplomatic establishment.” — Ronald Steel, The New York Review of Books “From these pages there emerge both the sensitive, introspective, compassionate human being and the sometimes frustrated diplomat. Ranging from his observations of the German occupation of Prague to the genesis of the ‘X’ article in Foreign Affairs and the problems of the postwar world, these vignettes from the author’s diaries are skillfully linked into a consecutive story of lasting historical importance.” — John G. Stoessinger, Foreign Affairs “[A] major contribution to the diplomatic history of our time.” — Dimitri von Mohrenschildt, The Russian Review “This widely acclaimed volume — recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award — can be read as the first installment in the autobiography of an eminent historian; as the intellectual odyssey of a sensitive student of international relations; as an instructive portrait of a professional diplomat, alienated from society and impatient with domestic pressures; as a contribution to the historiography of the cold war; and as a commentary on decision making in recent American foreign policy. It is immensely useful in each area and, like all of Kennan’s works, beautifully written.” — Richard W. Leopold, The American Historical Review “George Kennan’s Memoirs: 1925-1950 may well become a standard by which future American diplomatic autobiographies will be judged — a standard difficult to emulate... [an] immensely interesting book... This biography paints a panorama of unusual personal dimensions.” — Paul Seabury, Slavic Review “Kennan was an enormously healthy and stimulating influence in our diplomatic establishment, and his Memoirs provide a provocative analysis of the intellectual, political, and military thinking that went into the evolution of our attitudes and policies for some twenty-five years.” — Smith Simpson, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science “George Kennan, who already has a substantial reputation as a professional diplomat and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, has now ensured his place in history with this volume of Memoirs.” — Robert A. Divine, The Journal of Southern History “[Kennan’s] lucid, elegant, scrupulous, even finicky account of his career is an excellent way to understand exactly how our foreign policy is shaped and why it ought to be shaped differently. His ambition is to alter the conduct of American foreign policy by influencing the climate of opinion and thereby those who will formulate that policy.” — George P. Elliott, The Hudson Review “[Kennan] focuses on essentials and illuminates them; in so doing his sense of the drama of events merges with the drama of self. His literary style, genuine and full, carries well the weight of complex considerations. His sense of responsibility in public service — for the public good as he sees it — shines out truly and clearly. What a good man, what an attractive man, what an instructive and elevating commentator!” — Herbert Feis, The Virginia Quarterly Review “George Kennan’s lantern illuminates the world; it shines like a beacon in an era of militarist adventure and ‘personalized’ foreign policy.” — Harrison E. Salisbury, Saturday Review
The American diplomat's reflections of his years of government service provide insight into four decades of U.S. policy
George F. Kennan’s first volume of memoirs is Memoirs 1925-1950. In the second volume of his memoirs, George Kennan resumes the narrative of his remarkable career, re-creating his development as a historian and analyzing the crucial issues of the twentieth century. “I don’t see how a memoir could be better; even if you aren’t interested in the subject at hand, the language carries you along. And the story here told — with all action subject to the finest Kennan introspection — is both important and absorbing... All of it is graced by the Kennan style; all is stamped with the Kennan foreign‐policy trademark [which] consists of an ability to think clearly about complicated matters with an utter independence of mind. He draws on a superb stock of historical knowledge... Most of the conclusions that George Kennan has reached over the years involve, in one way or another, the Soviet Union, and they emerge with admirable clarity from this book... [Kennan is the] most brilliant and civilized of students of the public scene.” — John Kenneth Galbraith, The New York Times “Delightfully written and appallingly frank... Mr. Kennan writes with a freedom and a sensitivity which carry the reader easily into a much deeper understanding of the difficulties of foreign policy-making in a mass democracy of the American model.” — D.C. Watt, New Statesman “[An] engrossing volume... this volume and its predecessor form one of the outstanding memoirs of our time.” — Richard W. Leopold, The American Historical Review “[T]his second volume of his memoirs can be read with as much speed and pleasure as a novel... This book is frank, honest, and introspective, and it therefore reveals a great deal about Kennan as a person... Kennan is obviously a complex, fascinating character — intelligent, proud, articulate, independent-minded, dedicated to serving his country, concerned over the fate of the world, generous in giving of his time to others, and yet suffering the pangs of frustration, loneliness, and alienation from his native land.” — Thomas T. Hammond, The Russian Review “As scholar and diplomatist, policymaker and critic of policy, George F. Kennan possesses a rare combination of expertise and experience... This book is notable for its lucid style and for the verbal portraits which it presents of such persons as Acheson, Dulles, Truman, Eisenhower, Stalin, and Tito... this volume ranks as an important contribution to our understanding of American postwar foreign policy.” — Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr., The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science “[T]here is much here worth any serious student’s time, indeed close attention... Kennan should and will be read” — Kirkus “Kennan writes so well it is no doubt his intention that, though he shows himself plainly as a public figure, as a private person he remains elusive — a sort of Marquand character: gentlemanly, conservative (in the best sense), urbane, direct and honest; yet to any but his friends very private. I’m glad. There are so few celebrated men who refuse to become celebrities.” — Richard J. Walton, The Washington Post
A landmark collection, spanning ninety years of U.S. history, of the never-before-published diaries of George F. Kennan, America’s most famous diplomat. On a hot July afternoon in 1953, George F. Kennan descended the steps of the State Department building as a newly retired man. His career had been tumultuous: early postings in eastern Europe followed by Berlin in 1940–41 and Moscow in the last year of World War II. In 1946, the forty-two-year-old Kennan authored the “Long Telegram,” a 5,500-word indictment of the Kremlin that became mandatory reading in Washington. A year later, in an article in Foreign Affairs, he outlined “containment,” America’s guiding strategy in the Cold War. Yet what should have been the pinnacle of his career—an ambassadorship in Moscow in 1952—was sabotaged by Kennan himself, deeply frustrated at his failure to ease the Cold War that he had helped launch. Yet, if it wasn’t the pinnacle, neither was it the capstone; over the next fifty years, Kennan would become the most respected foreign policy thinker of the twentieth century, giving influential lectures, advising presidents, and authoring twenty books, winning two Pulitzer prizes and two National Book awards in the process. Through it all, Kennan kept a diary. Spanning a staggering eighty-eight years and totaling over 8,000 pages, his journals brim with keen political and moral insights, philosophical ruminations, poetry, and vivid descriptions. In these pages, we see Kennan rambling through 1920s Europe as a college student, despairing for capitalism in the midst of the Depression, agonizing over the dilemmas of sex and marriage, becoming enchanted and then horrified by Soviet Russia, and developing into America’s foremost Soviet analyst. But it is the second half of this near-century-long record—the blossoming of Kennan the gifted author, wise counselor, and biting critic of the Vietnam and Iraq wars—that showcases this remarkable man at the height of his singular analytic and expressive powers, before giving way, heartbreakingly, to some of his most human moments, as his energy, memory, and finally his ability to write fade away. Masterfully selected and annotated by historian Frank Costigliola, the result is a landmark work of profound intellectual and emotional power. These diaries tell the complete narrative of Kennan’s life in his own intimate and unflinching words and, through him, the arc of world events in the twentieth century.
Act One is the autobiography of Moss Hart, an American playwright and theatre director. Born into impoverished circumstances—his father was often unemployed—Hart left school at age twelve for a series of odd jobs that included being an entertainment director at a Catskills summer resort. Hart’s big break came in 1930 with the Broadway hit Once in a Lifetime, written with George Kaufman. The two would collaborate again on You Can’t Take It With You (1936) and The Man Who Came To Dinner (1939). You Can’t Take It With You won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1937, and the 1938 film version, directed by Frank Capra, won Oscars for both Best Picture and Best Director. Act One was adapted for a 1963 film starring George Hamilton, and for a 2014 stage production starring Tony Shalhoub and Andrea Martin. HarperTorch brings great works of non-fiction and the dramatic arts to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperTorch collection to build your digital library.
An autobiographical account of a young nurse's involvement in World War I
Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. led the General Motors Corporation to international business success by virtue of his brilliant managerial practices and his insights into the new consumer economy he and General Motors helped to produce. Sloan's business biography, My Years With General Motors, was an instant best seller when it was first published in 1964 and is still considered indispensable reading by modern business giants.
Mark Tushnet presents the story of the NAACP's legal campaign against segregated schools as a case study in public interest law, which in fact began in the United States with that very campaign.
Revisiting the Roots of the Cold War is a history of the emergence of the Cold War from 1944–1948, emphasizing the recently available Soviet scholarship and information from other archives. Prior scholarship on the origins of the Cold War served as the basis for the final works of James Gaddis, George Kennan and Ernest May in the 1980s, and with no access to Soviet materials, these works ignored the effects of American demobilization and the major restructuring of the State and Defense Departments. This study represents a more realistic appraisal of the formulation of U.S. policy.
Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Biography Widely and enthusiastically acclaimed, this is the authorized, definitive biography of one of the most fascinating but troubled figures of the twentieth century by the nation's leading Cold War historian. In the late 1940s, George F. Kennan—then a bright but, relatively obscure American diplomat—wrote the "long telegram" and the "X" article. These two documents laid out United States' strategy for "containing" the Soviet Union—a strategy which Kennan himself questioned in later years. Based on exclusive access to Kennan and his archives, this landmark history illuminates a life that both mirrored and shaped the century it spanned.