 | Kennedy's Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam
By Lawrence Freedman
ISBN: 9780195134537
Published: 2000
Number of Pages: 560
Edition: 1st
Binding: Hardcover |
Pricing & Availability:Additional Details:
Product Type: Book
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Description: In his thousand-day presidency, John F. Kennedy led America through one of its most difficult and potentially explosive eras. With the Cold War at its height and the threat of communist advances in Europe and the Third World, Kennedy had the unenviable task of maintaining U.S. solidarity without leading the western world into a nuclear catastrophe. In Kennedy's Wars, noted historian Lawrence Freedman draws on the best of Cold War scholarship and newly released government documents to illuminate Kennedy's approach to war and his efforts for peace. He recreates insightfully the political and intellectual milieu of the foreign policy establishment during Kennedy's era with vivid profiles of his top advisors--Robert McNamara, Dean Rusk, Robert Kennedy--and influential figures such as Dean Acheson and Walt Rostow. Tracing the evolution of traditional liberalism into the Cold War liberalism of Kennedy's cabinet, Freedman evaluates their responses to the tensions in Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam. He gives each conflict individual attention, showing how foreign policy decisions came to be defined for each new crisis in the light of those that had gone before. Readers will follow Kennedy as he wrestles with the succession of major conflicts--taking advice, weighing the risks of inadvertantly escalating the Cold War into outright military confrontation, exploring diplomatic options, and forming strategic judgments that would eventually prevent a major war during his presidency. Kennedy's Wars offers a dynamic and human portrait of Kennedy under pressure: a political leader shaped by the ideas of his time, conscious of his vulnerability to electoral defeat but also of his nation's vulnerability to nuclear war. Military and Kennedy enthusiasts will find its balanced consideration of the president's foreign policy and provocative "what if" scenarios invaluable keys to understanding his accomplishments, failures, and enduring legacy. |
Library of Congress Control Number
- LC control Number:
99087898 - LC control Number:
99087898 National Bibliography Number:
GBA1-10142International Standard Book Number:
0195134532:
0195134532 (acid-free paper) ::
0195134532 (alk. paper):
0195134532 : - Terms of availability:
$35.00Level of Bibliographic Control and Coding Detail:
COUTTSGeographic Area Code:
e-ge---:
n-us---:
nwcu---Library of Congress Call Number
- Classification number:
E841 - Item number:
.F69 2000Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- Edition number:
21 - Classification number:
973.922Main Entry - Personal Name
- Personal name:
Freedman, Lawrence - Personal name:
Freedman, Lawrence.Title Statement
- Title:
Kennedy's wars : - Remainder of title:
Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam / - Statement of responsibility, etc.:
Lawrence Freedman.Publication, Distribution, etc. (Imprint)
- Place of publication, distribution, etc.:
New York : - Name of publisher, distribution, etc.:
Oxford University Press, - Date of publication, distribution, etc.:
2000.Projected Publication Date:
0011Physical Description
- Extent:
p. cm. - Extent:
xx, 528 p. : - Extent:
xx, 528 p. ; - Extent:
xx, 528 p. [12] p. of plates : - Extent:
xx, 528 p., [12] p. of plates : - Other physical details:
ill. ; - Other physical details:
ill., map ; - Dimensions:
24 cm. - Dimensions:
25 cm.Bibliography, etc. Note
- Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. - Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [423]-505) and index. - Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [489]-505) and index - Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [489]-505) and index. - Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references (p. 489-505) and index. - Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references and index.Formatted Contents Note:
Liberal anticommunism -- Beyond massive retaliation -- The third world alternative -- Policies and people -- The new strategy -- To Vienna and back -- The Berlin anomaly -- A contest of resolve -- The wall -- Tests and tension -- Flexible response -- Berlin to Cuba -- Removing Castro -- A deniable plan -- An undeniable fiasco -- Still Castro -- Mongoose -- Searching for missiles -- The options debated -- Blockade -- Military steps -- Political steps -- The denouement -- A crisis managed -- Aftermath -- Back to square one --The Sino-Soviet split -- Toward a test ban -- The test ban treaty -- Measured response -- Counterinsurgency -- Laos -- Commitment without combat -- Deciding not to decide -- The Taylor report -- Decisions -- The influence of Laos -- In the dark -- Coersion and clients -- Diem's assasination -- Kennedy to Johnson. - Title:
Aftermath -- - Title:
Berlin anomaly -- - Title:
Berlin to Cuba -- - Title:
Beyond massive retaliation -- - Title:
Blockade -- - Title:
Coercion and clients -- - Title:
Commitment without combat -- - Title:
Contest of resolve -- - Title:
Counterinsurgency -- - Title:
Crisis managed -- - Title:
Deciding not to decide -- - Title:
Decisions -- - Title:
Deniable plan -- - Title:
Denouement -- - Title:
Diem's assassination -- - Title:
Flexible response -- - Title:
In the dark -- - Title:
Influence of Laos -- - Title:
Kennedy to Johnson. - Title:
Laos -- - Title:
Liberal anticommunism -- - Title:
Measured response. - Title:
Military steps -- - Title:
Mongoose -- - Title:
New strategy -- - Title:
Options debated -- - Title:
Policies and people -- - Title:
Political steps -- - Title:
Removing Castro -- - Title:
Searching for missles -- - Title:
Sino-Soviet split -- - Title:
Still Castro -- - Title:
Taylor report -- - Title:
Test ban treaty -- - Title:
Tests and tension -- - Title:
Third world alternative -- - Title:
To Vienna and back -- - Title:
Toward a test ban -- - Title:
Undeniable fiasco -- - Title:
Wall --Restrictions on Access Note
- Terms governing access:
Online version licensed for access by U. of T. users.Subject Added Entry - Personal Name
- Personal name:
Kennedy, John F. - Dates associated with a name:
1917-1963 - Dates associated with a name:
1917-1963. - Fuller form of name:
(John Fitzgerald), - General subdivision:
Military leadership - General subdivision:
Military leadership.Subject Added Entry - Topical Term
- Topical term or geographic name entry element:
Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989 - Topical term or geographic name entry element:
Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989. - Topical term or geographic name entry element:
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 - Topical term or geographic name entry element:
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. - Topical term or geographic name entry element:
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Topical term or geographic name entry element:
Vietnam War, 1961-1975. - Topical term or geographic name entry element:
Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975.Subject Added Entry - Geographic Name
- Geographic name:
Cuba - Geographic name:
United States - General subdivision:
Foreign relations - General subdivision:
History - General subdivision:
Military policy - General subdivision:
Military policy. - Chronological subdivision:
1961-1963 - Chronological subdivision:
1961-1963. - Chronological subdivision:
Invasion, 1961 - Chronological subdivision:
Invasion, 1961.
