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A Diplomatic Meeting
- Reagan, Thatcher, and the Art of Summitry (Studies in Conflict, Diplomacy, and Peace)
- Narrated by: Chaz Allen
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
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Publisher's summary
Drawing on a host of recently declassified documents from the Reagan-Thatcher years, A Diplomatic Meeting: Reagan, Thatcher, and the Art of Summitry provides an innovative framework for understanding the development and nature of the special relationship between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and American President Ronald Reagan, who were known as "political soulmates". James Cooper boldly challenges the popular conflation of the leaders' platforms and proposes that Reagan and Thatcher's summitry highlighted unique features of domestic policy in their respective countries. Cooper uses the relationship between Reagan and Thatcher to demonstrate that summitry politics transcended any distinction between foreign policy and domestic politics—a major objective of Reagan and Thatcher as they sought to consolidate power and implement their domestic economic programs in a parallel quest to reverse notions of their countries' "decline".
This unique and significant study about the making of the Reagan-Thatcher relationship uses their key meetings as an avenue to explore the fluidity between the domestic and international spheres, a perspective that is underappreciated in existing interpretations of the leaders' relationship and Anglo-American relations and, more broadly, in the field of international affairs.
The book is published by the University Press of Kentucky. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
"A masterful study of big personalities and big ideas...." (Luke A. Nichter, author of The Last Brahmin: Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and the Making of the Cold War)
"In this engaging, erudite, and very well researched book, James Cooper offers an insightful and fascinating analysis of the summit interactions of the two major leaders of the West...." (Iwan Morgan, author of Reagan: An American Icon)
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 375
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 337
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 337
The award-winning author of The Battle of Bretton Woods reveals the gripping history behind the Marshall Plan—told with verve, insight, and resonance for today.
In the wake of World War II, with Britain’s empire collapsing and Stalin's on the rise, US officials under new secretary of state George C. Marshall set out to reconstruct western Europe as a bulwark against communist authoritarianism. Their massive, costly, and ambitious undertaking would confront Europeans and Americans alike with a vision at odds with their history and self-conceptions. In the process, they would drive the creation of NATO, the European Union, and a Western identity that continues to shape world events.
Focusing on the critical years 1947 to 1949, Benn Steil’s thrilling account brings to life the seminal episodes marking the collapse of postwar US-Soviet relations—the Prague coup, the Berlin blockade, and the division of Germany. In each case, we see and understand like never before Stalin’s determination to crush the Marshall Plan and undermine American power in Europe.
Given current echoes of the Cold War, as Putin’s Russia rattles the world order, the tenuous balance of power and uncertain order of the late 1940s is as relevant as ever. The Marshall Plan provides critical context into understanding today’s international landscape. Bringing to bear fascinating new material from American, Russian, German, and other European archives, Steil’s account will forever change how we see the Marshall Plan and the birth of the Cold War. A polished and masterly work of historical narrative, this is an instant classic of Cold War literature.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Deeply Researched Narrative
- By Jean on 10-18-18
By: Benn Steil
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Not One Inch
- America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate
- By: M.E. Sarotte
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 196
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 168
Based on over a hundred interviews and on secret records of White House-Kremlin contacts, Not One Inch shows how the United States successfully overcame Russian resistance in the 1990s to expand NATO to more than 900 million people. But it also reveals how Washington's hardball tactics transformed the era between the Cold War and the present day, undermining what could have become a lasting partnership.
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5 out of 5 stars
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America's NATO problem
- By Jeffrey D on 03-24-22
By: M.E. Sarotte
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Magnificent Delusions
- Pakistan, the United States, and an Epic History of Misunderstanding
- By: Husain Haqqani
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 233
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 198
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 201
A character-driven history that describes the bizarrely ill-suited alliance between America and Pakistan, written by a uniquely insightful participant: Pakistan's former ambassador to the US. The relationship between America and Pakistan is based on mutual incomprehension, and always has been. Pakistan - to American eyes - has gone from being a stabilizing friend to an essential military ally to a seedbed of terror.
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4 out of 5 stars
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It it Delusions or Sleeping with the Enemy
- By Shah Alam on 01-28-14
By: Husain Haqqani
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Losing an Enemy
- Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy
- By: Trita Parsi
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 17 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 49
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story5 out of 5 stars 45
This timely book focuses on President Obama's deeply considered strategy toward Iran's nuclear program and reveals how the historic agreement of 2015 broke the persistent stalemate in negotiations that had blocked earlier efforts. Drawing from more than 75 in-depth interviews with key decision-makers, including Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry, this is the first authoritative account of President Obama's signature foreign policy achievement.
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5 out of 5 stars
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required reading
- By Seth K on 07-18-19
By: Trita Parsi
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The Battle of Bretton Woods
- John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order
- By: Benn Steil
- Narrated by: Philip Rose
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 238
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 189
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Story4 out of 5 stars 191
When turmoil strikes world monetary and financial markets, leaders invariably call for "a new Bretton Woods" to prevent catastrophic economic disorder and defuse political conflict. The name of the remote New Hampshire town where representatives of 44 nations gathered in July 1944, in the midst of the century's second great war, has become shorthand for enlightened globalization.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Is this a mystery, a history or an economics book?
- By Neil on 04-23-13
By: Benn Steil
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Doomed to Succeed
- The U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama
- By: Dennis Ross
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 127
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 118
In Doomed to Succeed, Ross takes us through every administration from Truman to Obama, throwing into dramatic relief each president's attitudes toward Israel and the region, the often tumultuous debates between key advisers, and the events that drove the policies and at times led to a shift in approach.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Even Handed Report
- By Jean on 11-21-15
By: Dennis Ross
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Camelot's Court
- Inside the Kennedy White House
- By: Robert Dallek
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4 out of 5 stars 68
Fifty years after John F. Kennedy's assassination, presidential historian Robert Dallek, whom The New York Times calls "Kennedy's leading biographer", delivers a riveting new portrait of this president and his inner circle of advisors, their rivalries, personality clashes, and political battles. In Camelot's Court, Dallek analyzes the brain trust whose contributions to the successes and failures of Kennedy's administration - including the Bay of Pigs, civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam - were indelible.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Well Researched but Critically Flawed
- By brent lloyd on 02-08-22
By: Robert Dallek
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The Quiet Man
- The Indispensable Presidency of George H.W. Bush
- By: John H. Sununu
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4 out of 5 stars 48
In this unique insider account, John H. Sununu pays tribute to his former boss - an intelligent, thoughtful, modest leader - and his overlooked accomplishments. Though George H. W. Bush is remembered for orchestrating one of the largest and most successful military campaigns in history - the Gulf War - Sununu argues that conventional wisdom misses many of Bush's other great achievements.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding Biograpy
- By Warren Brookes on 07-25-15
By: John H. Sununu
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Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China
- By: Ezra F. Vogel
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 33 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 319
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 280
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Story5 out of 5 stars 280
Once described by Mao Zedong as a "needle inside a ball of cotton", Deng was the pragmatic yet disciplined driving force behind China's radical transformation in the late 20th century. He confronted the damage wrought by the Cultural Revolution, dissolved Mao's cult of personality, and loosened the policies that had stunted China's growth. Obsessed with modernization, Deng opened trade relations with the West, which lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. Yet he also answered to his authoritarian roots, most notably when he ordered the crackdown in 1989 at Tiananmen Square.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Another butcher of the Chinese language
- By Jack Hanson on 09-19-21
By: Ezra F. Vogel
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Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher
- A Political Marriage
- By: Nicholas Wapshott
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 204
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 149
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 145
It is well known that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were close allies and kindred political spirits. During their eight overlapping years in office, the U.S. president and the U.K. prime minister worked together to promote lower taxes, deregulation, free trade, and an aggressive stance against the Soviet Union. But according to Nicholas Wapshott, the Reagan/Thatcher relationship was much deeper than an alliance of mutual interests.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Better Half
- By peter on 06-01-11
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Ike's Gamble
- America's Rise to Dominance in the Middle East
- By: Michael Doran
- Narrated by: Casey Jones
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
In 1956 President Nasser of Egypt moved to take possession of the Suez Canal, thereby bringing the Middle East to the brink of war. The British and the French, who operated the canal, joined with Israel in a plan to retake it by force. Despite the special relationship between England and America, Dwight Eisenhower intervened to stop the invasion.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Tightly Argued
- By Jean on 01-10-17
By: Michael Doran
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Collapse
- The Fall of the Soviet Union
- By: Vladislav M. Zubok
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 355
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 303
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 301
In 1945, the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong, 5,000 nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward, the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the 20th century.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Hopefully Not Prescient
- By Joshua on 01-29-22
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Reagan
- The Life
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 31 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 713
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 625
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 624
Ronald Reagan today is a conservative icon, celebrated for transforming the American domestic agenda and playing a crucial part in ending communism in the Soviet Union. In his masterful new biography, H. W. Brands argues that Reagan, along with FDR, was the most consequential president of the 20th century. Reagan took office at a time when the public sector, after a half century of New Deal liberalism, was widely perceived as bloated and inefficient, an impediment to personal liberty.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Very little about Reagan
- By Jack Merritt on 07-30-15
By: H. W. Brands
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Roosevelt's Second Act
- The Election of 1940 and the Politics of War
- By: Richard Moe
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 21
On August 31, 1939, nearing the end of his second and presumably final term in office, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was working in the Oval Office and contemplating construction of his presidential library and planning retirement. The next day German tanks had crossed the Polish border; Britain and France had declared war. Overnight the world had changed, and FDR found himself being forced to consider a dramatically different set of circumstances.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Puts listener in the moment.
- By Jake on 05-16-14
By: Richard Moe
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Asia's Reckoning
- China, Japan, and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century
- By: Richard Mcgregor
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 154
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 138
Richard McGregor's Asia's Reckoning is a compelling account of the widening geopolitical cracks in a region that has flourished under an American security umbrella for more than half a century. The toxic rivalry between China and Japan, two Asian giants consumed with endless history wars and ruled by entrenched political dynasties, is threatening to upend the peace underwritten by Pax Americana since World War II.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good info to learn, but...
- By Neal on 02-24-18
By: Richard Mcgregor
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The Crusader
- Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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Story5 out of 5 stars 96
God and Ronald Reagan made presidential historian Paul Kengor's name as one of the premier chroniclers of the life and career of the 40th president. With The Crusader, Kengor returns with the one book about Reagan that has not been written: the story of his lifelong crusade against communism and of his dogged and ultimately triumphant effort to overthrow the Soviet Union.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Whether you like Reagan or not....
- By Daryl on 10-20-13
By: Paul Kengor
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The Money Makers
- How Roosevelt and Keynes Ended the Depression, Defeated Fascism, and Secured a Prosperous Peace
- By: Eric Rauchway
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Shortly after arriving in the White House in early 1933, Franklin Roosevelt took the United States off the gold standard. His opponents thought his decision unwise at best and ruinous at worst. But they could not have been more wrong. With The Money Makers, Eric Rauchway tells the absorbing story of how FDR and his advisors pulled the levers of monetary policy to save the domestic economy and propel the United States to unprecedented prosperity and superpower status.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent over view and easily understandable
- By L. Ford Ballard, Jr. on 01-15-19
By: Eric Rauchway