"In this memoir, Ambassador Raymond Garthoff paints a diplomatic history of the Cold War, tracing the life of the conflict from the vantage point of an observant insider. The author's intellectually formative years coincided with the earliest days of the Cold War, and he participated in some of the most important policymaking of the twentieth century.".

"Garthoff's journey through the Cold War informs the views, positions, and actions of the past. His anecdotes and observations will also be of great value to those anticipating the challenges of reevaluating American post-Cold War security policy."--BOOK JACKET.