A World Transformed - Hardcover

Bush, George

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679432485 ISBN 13: 9780679432487

Publisher: Knopf, 1998

Synopsis

It was one of the pivotal times of the twentieth century--during George Bush's presidency, an extraordinary series of international events took place that materially changed the face of the world. Now, former President Bush and his national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, tell the story of those tumultuous years.

Here are behind-the-scenes accounts of critical meetings in the White House and of summit conferences in Europe and the United States, interspersed with excerpts from Mr. Bush's diary. We are given fresh and intriguing views of world leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, and François Mitterrand--and witness the importance of personal relationships in diplomacy. There is the dramatic description of how President Bush put together the alliance against Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War. There are the intensive diplomatic exchanges with Beijing following the events of Tiananmen Square, and the intricate negotiations leading up to German reunification. And there is the sometimes poignant, sometimes grim portrayal of Gorbachev's final years in power.

A World Transformed is not simply a record of accomplishment; Bush and Scowcroft candidly recount how the major players sometimes disagreed over issues, and analyze what mistakes were made. This is a landmark book on the conduct of American foreign policy--and how that policy is crucial to the peace of the world. It is a fascinating inside look at great events that deepens our understanding of today's global issues.

About this title

Review

George Bush's term as President occurred during a watershed era for international politics. In fact, so many major events took place on his watch that he limits A World Transformed to the years 1989 to 1991, in which the massacre at Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the Persian Gulf War held center stage. Though some will claim that this narrow focus only confirms Bush's disproportionate interest in foreign rather than domestic affairs, the events in question certainly warrant a book of their own. Perhaps anticipating such a response, Bush hints in the introduction that further memoirs are in the works.

A World Transformed is divided into three voices: Bush, his coauthor and former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, and the collective "we" of the National Security Council (supplying vital background information and a wider view of the events discussed). Overall, this formula works--Bush's tone is particularly warm and chatty, his narrative peppered with telling anecdotes that reveal the personalities and emotions behind the bold-faced headlines. His remarks are mostly to the point, gratifyingly lucid, and often compelling. Diary excerpts supply many memorable insights, if few truly shocking revelations. For instance, at the end of the Persian Gulf War, he wrote: "Isn't it a marvelous thing that this little country will be liberated.... The big news, of course, is this high performance of our troops--the wonderful job they've done; the conviction that we're right and the others are wrong. We're doing something decent, and we're doing something good; and Vietnam will soon be behind us.... It's surprising how much I dwell on the end of the Vietnam syndrome."

In describing his interaction with other world leaders, Bush emerges as a skillful negotiator and statesman, fostering a personal, first-name-basis style of diplomacy that proved especially effective with Mikhail Gorbachev and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Scowcroft, the consummate support man and workaholic, focuses more on the nuts and bolts, balancing out their presentation of how crises are dealt with at the highest level. --Shawn Carkonen

From the Publisher

"In a strong new book, the ex-president recalls dangerous days...It should leave little doubt how lucky we were that we had such a seasoned hand on the tiller at a time when foreign policy really counted."
--Michael R. Beschloss, Newsweek

"Among the finest expositions of modern American foreign policy since the time of Harry
Truman...An excellent book...unique in form...[dealing with] potentially explosive crises. Any one of them, if badly managed, could have precipitated a third world war in a nuclear setting."
--Eugene V. Rostow, Wall Street Journal

"It reveals a wealth of detail about the main lines of U.S. foreign policy at the highest level during a most portentous period of our history...There is much high drama here [and] plenty even for experts to learn."
--Adam Garfinkle, Philadelphia Inquirer

"A memorable memoir...A compelling look at some very important historical developments...Remarkably candid as well as occasionally self-critical...Supplemented with a series of revealing and heretofore unpublished excerpts from Bush's White House diaries."
--Richard S. Dunham, Business Week

"The most important book yet written about the end of the Cold War...Remarkably frank, intelligent and also readable, indeed at times gripping."
--Fareed Zakaria, New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0679432485
• ISBN 13: 9780679432487
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 587