Book description
1973 was a seminal year in world history. The outbreak of the 'Yom
Kippur War' took both Israel and the US by surprise, the Vietnam War
finally ended, it was the year of detente with the Soviet Union, but the
US executive was in a state of collapse following Watergate, and the
year ended with the muslim initiated energy crisis, which brought the
Western world to the brink of economic disaster - a story of deepest
relevance today. This book is the biography of Kissinger - the first he
has authorised - viewed through the events of this crucial year. A story
of his extraordinarily imaginative aims, his near successes, and, as he
admits, his ultimate failures. Alistair Horne was educated at Le
Rosey, Switzerland, and Jesus College, Cambridge. He ended his war
service with the rank of Captain in the Coldstream Guards attached to
MI5 in the Middle East. From 1952 to 1955 he worked as a foreign
correspondent for the DAILY TELEGRAPH In 1969 he founded the Alistair
Horne research fellowship in modern history, St Antony's, Oxford. His
numerous books on history and politics have been translated into over
ten languages, he was awarded the HAWTHORNDEN prize (for THE PRICE OF
GLORY) and the WOLFSON prize (for A SAVAGE WAR OF PEACE). In 1992 he was
awarded the CBE; in 1993 he received the French LEGION D'HONNEUR for his
work on French history and a D. Litt. from Cambridge University. He was
knighted in 2003 for services to Franco-British relations.
