Very in-depth account of Henry Kissinger's grabs for power under President Nixon. Fascinating and appalling. It details what he did but doesn't detail a lot of how he did it. The man knew how to manipulate and not tip people off as to what he was up to. ( )

This is an excellent book about the time immediately prior to Nixon’s election and during the Nixon Presidency itself. Hersh chronicles the activities of Kissinger during this era which was dominated by the Vietnam War. Hersh is a gifted, artistic writer who rewards the reader with clear prose. Unfortunately, Hersh has biases which he is not so clearcut about. Hersh presents Kissinger as a Machiavellian who makes himself indispensable to Nixon by isolating Nixon from the rest of the White House staff. Hersh never spells out why Nixon found Kissinger to be so “influential” other than to allude to his Harvard intellectualist persona which he managed to fob off on all, as well as Kissinger’s political betrayal against Lyndon Johnson. This generalized assessment may actually be true as Nixon did seem to be susceptible to suggestion and prone to paranoia. It seems that Hersh alludes to Kissinger’s WWII intelligence work (vague) and counter espionage charades (well developed) as enough to hoodwink Nixon. For all of the work invested in this work by Hersh, he betrays an appalling lack of concern for the average US military man. Hersh refers to Lt. Calley of the My Lai Massacre as having been Court Marshaled by his peers. Hersh seems to use Calley as the epitome of the US effort in the war, which he was not. Hersh instead makes his stand, in this book at least, with the Anti-War Movement and with the liberal press even if the press were complainant with what they knew was false reporting. This book was very engaging and despite its major flaws (e.g. anti-military) was a well worth the time to finish. I do not give Hersh a higher star rating due exclusively to his callous disregard for the lives of the America’s put in harm’s way in Southeast Asia. ( )

An outstanding book about how Kissinger seized power, bypassing the Secretary of State Rogers, prolonged the Vietnam War with incursions into Cambodia, Laos, and was ultimately about to be dumped by Nixon when Watergate saved him. Kissinger remains a frequently interviewed and quoted senior authority during the Obama administration.

In 2010 this should be considered a cautionary tale about prolonging and prolonging such a conflict as is happening now. ( )