Book Review: Thomas A. Schwartz, Henry Kissinger and American Power: A Political Biography, New York: Hill and Wang, 2020.

Abstract

Henry Kissinger has been an active politician and diplomat in the international politics of Cold War with demonstrated success in theory and practice. He is one of the rare politicians with a quite a few biography books. In this latest biography of Kissinger, Thomas Schwartz from Vanderbilt University reveals a unique perspective on Kissinger’s life and work. Learning about Kissinger's life and his decision-making process is as crucial as the most fundamental question of the book: Who is Kissinger? What would or could Kissinger do? Beyond Kissinger, the book entails information about the politicians Kissinger interacted across the world on various political disputes. Schwartz’s work objectively summarizes these disputes and Kissinger’s approach to each dispute gives reader a glimpse of his political personality.