Summits: Six Meetings That Shaped the Twentieth Century [Paperback]

David Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2009

The Cold War dominated world history for nearly half a century, locking two superpowers in a global rivalry that only ended with the Soviet collapse. The most decisive moments of twentieth-century diplomacy occurred when world leaders met face to face—from the mishandled summit in Munich, 1938, which brought on the Second World War, to Ronald Reagan’s remarkable chemistry with Mikhail Gorbachev at Geneva in 1985. In Summits, eminent diplomatic historian David Reynolds takes us alongside the statesmen who stood, if only briefly, on top of the world, offering valuable lessons as we find ourselves confronting once again a war without end.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. John F. Kennedy opined that nations in conflict would do better to meet at the summit than at the brink. Reynolds had the intriguing idea of examining the conflicts of the 20th century through the lens of its pivotal summit meetings. Given his Cambridge professorship and eight books on WWII and the Cold War (Command of History), the author's thorough mastery of his subject is reflected in the fluency and assurance of the writing. As he explains, many summits have been vitiated by misplaced trust: at Munich in 1938, Chamberlain believed Hitler would keep his word on Czechoslovakia. In Reynolds's view, Kennedy and Khrushchev failed at Vienna in 1961 in nearly all respects, and their failure had consequences, including Khrushchev's belligerence—and ultimate humiliation—in the Cuban missile crisis. In 1985, Reagan and Gorbachev held what the author believes was the most successful summit of all, a result of careful preparation and the old-fashioned, behind-the-scenes diplomacy of George Shultz. The Camp David summit with Sadat, Carter and Begin, in this account, rivals Munich for sheer drama. The stories of these summits (plus the post-WWII Yalta conference and Nixon/Brezhnev in 1972) reveal the calculation, bluff, mutual incomprehension and good intentions that make meetings at the top risky and, occasionally, productive. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Wall Street Journal
“Only one chapter in Summits is about Yalta…but so astute is David Reynolds’s analysis of the proceedings that it’s worth getting hold of this book just for that section.”

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; Reprint edition (April 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465012752
• ISBN-13: 978-0465012756
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Historical Study, September 5, 2008

By 

T. McLaughlin "Interpretive delirium" (Chatham, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Summits (Hardcover)

This was a brilliant idea for a 20th century history. Absolutely entertaining, it gives you an angle on many major events of the last sorrowful century that is unusual. Reynolds has an ideal diplomat's sensibility: he sees both sides' fears, strengths and vulnerabilities, and he has a good overall perspective, an ability to weigh the true importance of words and events.

The greatest benefit of the book however seems to me to be the character assessments of the personalities involved in the 6 summits he describes. Chamberlain & Hitler; Stalin, Roosevelt & Churchill; Kennedy & Khrushchev; Nixon, Kissinger and Brezhnev, (also Mao and Zhou EnLai); Begin, Sadat & Carter; Reagan, George Shultz & Gorbachev, and many other supporting characters make this a fascinating study of powerful, imperfect, quite human personalities.

A wonderful, interesting book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good, January 17, 2010

By 

Guy R. Hearn "Grrr" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Summits: Six Meetings That Shaped the Twentieth Century (Paperback)

Quite superb. It doesn't sound like a promising topic, but is a very neat way of summarising some of the most important issues and key players in 20th Century history. Apart from adopting an appealing, fly on the wall, documentary narrative technique that leaves you feeling as though you have a much better grasp of the characters of the key players Reynolds also turns some of the standard canards on their heads.
Reagan comes out better than expected....a dedicated cold warrior yes, but one who really wanted to make progress on abolishing nuclear weapons. Carter - guilty of devoting too much time to the Middle East and not enough to domestic matters, but the only US leader able to grasp all of the details and react swiftly to changing events. Nixon and Kissinger - would have been capable of so much more if they had been to suspend their addiction to secrecy, deceit and double dealing with their own colleagues.
One key lesson is the importance of health. Roosevelt, Churchill, Chamberlain, and for me surprisingly, Kennedy approached major summits in very poor health - but were too proud to admit it. Not suprisingly, they came out second best to healthy opponents. There's a lesson there for all of us with a tendency to overwork...

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History with a humanity aspect applied, February 13, 2008

By 

Molon Labe (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Summits (Hardcover)

I first heard of this book while listening to a national radio show where the author was a guest. While I was captured at first on a purely historical basis by their discussion of the Neville Chamberlain-Adolf Hitler summit, continuing to listen I was surprised that my interest veered off in a new direction. I determined that this was not a book so much about straight facts boringly laid out such as "Hitler said this, then Chamberlain rebutted with this..." as it is about the people in that event and how human as they were they did shape the 20th Century for better or for worse. The book appears to be very well researched as the author's knowledge on the topics indicate, but with the human aspect interjected I found this book to be quite interesting. While I knew some of the characters and events prior to reading the book, I was astounded at the gravity of some of these meetings that I was completely unfamiliar with. I was aware of some of the outcomes, but never really understood why. In the end I feel the authors take on history is quite accurate and unbiased. I also feel the author did an excellent job of making the characters of history tangible.