Summits: Six Meetings That Shaped the Twentieth Century

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.

Rich in anecdotes as well as context and the backdrop of forces for the summits covered, the 435 pages are well augmented with extensive reference sections and a very detailed index. It is also a study of changes in the practice of high-level, high-stakes diplomacy, ranging from the force of personalities who have little connection to the societies that they represent, to what the author generally describes as a bureaucratic process that involves more and more individuals as the collective world-view's horizons expand. There is an interesting effect that gradually comes into focus during the narrative of these summits, which the author makes excellent note of: the role of communications technology in breaking down information monopolies, exposing risks and rewards for all to see and appreciate as large-scale accommodations are worked out. The book is an easy read despite it's large size, and the investment in time is amply rewarded by a view into what were formerly mysteries, and an understanding of what drove those decisions.

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.