In this controversial and monumental book – clearly his most important – Henry Kissinger clarifies what diplomacy really is. Moving from a comprehensive general overview of his own interpretation of history to personal narratives of the negotiations he conducted with world leaders, Kissinger describes the ways in which the art of diplomacy and the balance of power have created the world we live in.

He shows how Americans, protected by the size of their country and its isolation, as well as by idealism and skepticism toward the Old World, sought to shape a unique kind of foreign policy, based on how they would like the world to be rather than how it actually is.