Men and Powers: A Political Retrospective [Hardcover]

Helmut Schmidt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 1990

An inside view of his dealings with the superpowers by the former West German chancellor. He gives candid impressions of, amongst others, Reagan, Carter, Gorbachev and Thatcher, recalls the crucial episodes of his chancellorship, and speculates on the future of world politics.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Fascinating figures emerge from the pages of this book as Schmidt, Chancellor of West Germany from 1972 to 1984, recounts his political experiences. As representative for the major economic power of Europe and a key state in Western security arrangements, Schmidt negotiated with major world leaders, including Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Leonid Brezhnev, and Mao Zedong. Schmidt has great insight into the politics and personalities of the critical postwar period. His judgments on American foreign policy are excellent, and he discusses such events as the dollar crisis, the oil crises, and the placement of new American nuclear weapons in Western Europe. The book is as worthwhile as his earlier effort, A Grand Strategy for the West ( LJ 12/1/85). Recommended for politicians, scholars, and informed laypersons.
- Richard B. Finnegan, Stonehill Coll., North Easton, Mass.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Hardcover: 410 pages
• Publisher: Random House; First edition. edition (February 10, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394569946
• ISBN-13: 978-0394569949
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #848,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realpolitiker, August 3, 2005

By 

Luc REYNAERT (Beernem, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Men and Powers: A Political Retrospective (Hardcover)

Helmut Schmidt's autobiography gives us a candid look behind the curtain of world politics at the highest level.
It shows us Schmidt as a shrewd, tough and cunning politician with a brilliant insight into political and economical world problems in the short as well as in the long run.

He saw the foreign policy of the Soviet Union as a continuation of tsarist expansionism (Witte: from the Ural to the North Sea). He understood also that the SU military budget constituted a heavy drag on the whole soviet economy.
For the CEE, he saw big problems ahead: a crazy agricultural regime, no independent military force and splintered economic and monetary policies. Only one of these problems has been partly solved today.
This book shows also the importance of think tanks: the Council of Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the London Institute for Strategic Studies, the Bilderberg Conferences and the Library Group which was co-founded by him.

H. Schmidt was also a brilliant economist with his magical rectangular: price stability, growth, high employment and foreign trade equilibrium.

His sworn enemy was US President Jimmy Carter. The latter wanted that Germany inflated its economy and that it stopped its export of nuclear reactors. He threatened to block the delivery of enriched uranium with the risk of an energy black-out in the whole of Germany.
H. Schmidt also opposed a recall of Western credits to Poland during the Jaruzelski regime. He knew all too well that a Polish revolution would have the same fatal outcome as those in Budapest and Prague.

This book contains valuable information on the Suez-crisis, hawk Brzezinski and Khrushchev.

A must for historians and for all those interested in world politics.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Chancelor's point of view., August 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Men and Powers: A Political Retrospective (Hardcover)

Interesting book by former German chancelor Helmut Schmidt about his experiences with nations and leaders while he was in power during 1974 to 1982. He is along with former French President Valery Giscard D'Estain the founder of the European Monetary Union (Ecu, later EURO) and thinks that most of the current brokers on Wall Street are crazy psycopaths, who drive US economy to a big crash!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars informative, July 31, 2011

By 

Lady de Gressington "Ava" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Men and Powers: A Political Retrospective (Hardcover)

This book is quite insightful and chock-full of interesting information on Secret Societies including the Council on Foreign Relations, Bohemian Grove, and Bilderberg.