{"product_id":"berlin-1961-isbn-9780425245941","title":"Berlin 1961","description":"\u003cb\u003e In June 1961, Nikita Khrushchev called Berlin \"the most  dangerous place on earth.\" He knew what he was talking about. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eMuch has been written about the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later,  but the Berlin Crisis of 1961 was more decisive in shaping the Cold  War-and more perilous. It was in that hot summer that the Berlin Wall  was constructed, which would divide the world for another twenty-eight  years. Then two months later, and for the first time in history,  American and Soviet fighting men and tanks stood arrayed against each  other, only yards apart. One mistake, one nervous soldier, one  overzealous commander-and the tripwire would be sprung for a war that  could go nuclear in a heartbeat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn one side was a young, untested U.S. president still reeling from  the Bay of Pigs disaster and a humiliating summit meeting that left him  grasping for ways to respond. It would add up to be one of the worst  first-year foreign policy performances of any modern president. On the  other side, a Soviet premier hemmed in by the Chinese, East Germans,  and hardliners in his own government. With an all-important Party  Congress approaching, he knew Berlin meant the difference not only for  the Kremlin's hold on its empire-but for his own hold on the Kremlin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeither man really understood the other, both tried cynically to  manipulate events. And so, week by week, they crept closer to the  brink.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on a wealth of new documents and interviews, filled with  fresh-sometimes startling-insights, written with immediacy and drama,  \u003ci\u003eBerlin 1961\u003c\/i\u003e is an extraordinary look at key events of the  twentieth century, with powerful applications to these early years of  the twenty-first.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIncludes photographs \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eBerlin 1961\u003c\/i\u003e is a gripping, well-researched, and thought- provoking book with many lessons for today.\" — \u003cb\u003eDr. Henry Kissinger\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Good journalistic history in the tradition of William L. Shirer and  Barbara Tuchman.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Frederick Kempe's compelling narrative, astute analysis, and  meticulous research bring fresh insight into a crucial and perilous  episode of the Cold War.\" — \u003cb\u003eStrobe Talbott, President, Brookings Institution\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"History at its best. Kempe's book masterfully dissects the Cold War's  strategically most significant East-West confrontation, and in the  process significantly enlightens our understanding of the complexity of  the Cold War itself.\" — \u003cb\u003eDr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor to President Jimmy  Carter\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eBerlin 1961\u003c\/i\u003e takes us to Ground Zero of the Cold War. Reading  these pages, you feel as if you are standing at Checkpoint Charlie,  amid the brutal tension of a divided Berlin.\" — \u003cb\u003eDavid Ignatius, Columnist, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Informed...His chronology of memos and meetings dramatizes events behind  closed doors...Kempe's history reflects balanced discernment about the  creation of the Berlin Wall.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Kempe...skillfully weaves oral histories and newly declassified  documents into a sweeping, exhaustive narrative...Likely the best, most  richly detailed account of the subject, this will engross serious  readers of Cold War history who enjoyed W.R. Smyser's Kennedy and the  Berlin Wall but appreciate further detail.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrederick Kempe\u003c\/b\u003e is the editor and associate publisher of \u003cb\u003eThe Wall Street Journal Europe\u003c\/b\u003e and the founding editor of the \u003cb\u003eCentral European Economic Review\u003c\/b\u003e. A well-known American commentator in Germany, he is also the author of \u003cb\u003eDivorcing the Dictator\u003c\/b\u003e, a book about America and Noriega featured on the cover of \u003cb\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/b\u003e, and \u003cb\u003eSiberian Odyssey\u003c\/b\u003e.","brand":"Berkley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300359295205,"sku":"NP9780425245941","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780425245941.jpg?v=1767722436","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/berlin-1961-isbn-9780425245941","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}