MEMOIRS 1950-1963: Volume II

by George F. Kennan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 1972

It is an understatement to say that the initial volume of Kennan's Memoirs (1967) covering 1925-50 provoked consternation among the Foggy Bottom set. More to the point, the book -- like his earlier Foreign Affairs ""X-article"" -- cracked open a generation of American diplomatic flummery, consistently frozen flummery which culminated in what aptly came to be known as the Cold War. Many of the principal movers, quite naturally, took umbrage at Kennan's critical assessment (after all, he was one of them, wasn't he?) and attempted to nail his renegade hide to the trapdoor of State Department heresy (Dean Acheson, for example, had his innings in Present at the Creation). Now Kennan picks up the story at the point of his remove to the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton where, except for two brief ambassadorial tours (USSR, 1952; Yugoslavia, 1961-63) and several terms at Oxford, he has remained ever since. Will this second and presumably final volume of Kennan reflections raise the kind of hackles the first did? Not likely. The passions have been spent and, remember, this is now an era of negotiation rather than confrontation. That is, Kennan, who has always insisted upon a flexible U.S.-world stance, has been handsomely vindicated. Withal, there is much here worth any serious student's time, indeed close attention. The ""complex fabric of diplomacy"" comes alive when Ambassador Kennan, in Belgrade, thought he had presidential agreement to jettison Captive Nations Week (anathema to the Yugoslavs), only to have Kennedy renege -- ""right at the start of my mission, domestic policy had triumphed clearly and dramatically over foreign policy."" Other equally illuminating experiences and ordeals stud the memoir re his encounter with McCarthyism (""Kafkaesque""), postgovernmental appraisals, and colleagues at the Institute. Kennan should and will be read, even if the debate has moved beyond personal rancor and into history.

Pub Date: Sept. 18, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown--A.M.P.

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION