Kissinger was hailed for his peacemaking in the Middle East, pursuit of détente with the Soviet Union, negotiation of an end to the Vietnam War, and secret plan to open the United States to China. He was assailed from the left and from the right for his indifference to human rights, complicity in the pointless sacrifice of American and Vietnamese lives, and reliance on deception and intrigue. Schwartz takes a measured view of his subject: he recognizes that Kissinger thought seriously and with great insight about the foreign policy issues of his time, while also recognizing his penchant for backbiting, and his reliance on ingratiating and fawning praise of the president as a source of power. He provides an essential guide to a man whose legacy is as complex as the last sixty years of US history itself. -- adapted from jacket

Introduction : Henry Kissinger and American Power -- The making of Henry Kissinger, 1923-1968 -- "You Can't Lose Them All" : Kissinger as National Security Adviser, 1969-1970 -- "Nixon's Secret Agent" : Kissinger as the new face of American Foreign Policy, 1971 -- "Peace Is Really at Hand" : Kissinger, the "Trifecta," and the 1972 Presidential election -- "Henry Kissinger Did It" : Kissinger as president for foreign policy, 1973 -- "No Longer Indispensable" : Kissinger, Gerald Ford, and the politics of American Foreign Policy, 1974-1976 -- "We Do Not Want Henry Kissinger on the Cover of Time Magazine" : citizen Kissinger and American foreign policy since 1977 -- Epilogue : Henry Kissinger-Celebrity Diplomat, Cold War icon.