Henry Kissinger Popular Books
Henry Kissinger Biography & Facts
Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat, political scientist, geopolitical consultant, and politician who served as the United States secretary of state and national security advisor in the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford between 1969 and 1977. Born in Germany, Kissinger came to the United States in 1938 as a Jewish refugee fleeing Nazi persecution. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and, after the war, was educated at Harvard University, where he excelled academically. He later became a professor of government at the university and earned an international reputation as an expert on nuclear weapons and foreign policy. He frequently acted as a consultant to government agencies, think tanks, and the presidential campaigns of Nelson Rockefeller and Richard Nixon before being appointed national security advisor. Kissinger pioneered the policy of détente with the Soviet Union, orchestrated an opening of relations with China, engaged in "shuttle diplomacy" in the Middle East to end the Yom Kippur War, and negotiated the Paris Peace Accords, which ended American involvement in the Vietnam War. For his role in negotiating the end of the Vietnam War, he was awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize under controversial circumstances. A practitioner of a pragmatic approach to politics called Realpolitik, he has been widely considered by scholars to have been an effective secretary of state. Kissinger is also associated with controversial U.S. policies, including its bombing of Cambodia, involvement in the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, support for Argentina's military junta in its Dirty War, support for Indonesia in its invasion of East Timor, and support for Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War and Bangladesh genocide. He was accused of war crimes for the civilian death toll of the policies he pursued, his role in facilitating U.S. support for dictatorial regimes, and willful ignorance towards human rights abuses committed by the United States and its allies. After leaving government, Kissinger founded Kissinger Associates, an international geopolitical consulting firm. He authored over a dozen books on diplomatic history and international relations. His advice was sought by American presidents of both political parties. Early life and education Kissinger was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923, in Fürth, Bavaria, Germany. He was the son of homemaker Paula (née Stern; 1901–1998), from Leutershausen, and Louis Kissinger (1887–1982), a schoolteacher. He had a younger brother, Walter (1924–2021), who was a businessman. Kissinger's family was German-Jewish. His great-great-grandfather Meyer Löb adopted "Kissinger" as his surname in 1817, taking it from the Bavarian spa town of Bad Kissingen. In his childhood, Kissinger enjoyed playing soccer. He played for the youth team of SpVgg Fürth, which was one of the nation's best clubs at the time. In a 2022 BBC interview, Kissinger vividly recalled being nine years old in 1933 and learning of Adolf Hitler's election as Chancellor of Germany, which proved to be a profound turning point for the Kissinger family. During Nazi rule, Kissinger and his friends were regularly harassed and beaten by Hitler Youth gangs. Kissinger sometimes defied the segregation imposed by Nazi racial laws by sneaking into soccer stadiums to watch matches, often resulting in beatings from security guards. As a result of the Nazis' anti-Semitic laws, Kissinger was unable to gain admittance to the Gymnasium and his father was dismissed from his teaching job. On August 20, 1938, when Kissinger was 15 years old, he and his family fled Germany to avoid further Nazi persecution. The family briefly stopped in London before arriving in New York City on September 5. Kissinger later downplayed the influence his experiences of Nazi persecution had had on his policies, writing that the "Germany of my youth had a great deal of order and very little justice; it was not the sort of place likely to inspire devotion to order in the abstract." Nevertheless, many scholars, including Kissinger's biographer Walter Isaacson, have argued that his experiences influenced the formation of his realist approach to foreign policy. Kissinger spent his high-school years in the German-Jewish community in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. Although Kissinger assimilated quickly into American culture, he never lost his pronounced German accent, due to childhood shyness that made him hesitant to speak. After his first year at George Washington High School, he began attending school at night while working in a shaving brush factory during the day. Following high school, Kissinger studied accounting at the City College of New York, excelling academically as a part-time student while continuing to work. His studies were interrupted in early 1943, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. U.S. Army Kissinger underwent basic training at Camp Croft in Spartanburg, South Carolina. On June 19, 1943, at the age of 20, while stationed in South Carolina, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen. The army sent him to study engineering at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania under the Army Specialized Training Program, but the program was canceled and Kissinger was reassigned to the 84th Infantry Division. There, he made the acquaintance of Fritz Kraemer, a fellow immigrant from Germany who noted Kissinger's fluency in German and his intellect and arranged for him to be assigned to the division's military intelligence. Kissinger saw combat with the division and volunteered for hazardous intelligence duties during the Battle of the Bulge. On April 10, 1945, he participated in the liberation of the Hannover-Ahlem concentration camp, a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp. At the time, Kissinger wrote in his journal, "I had never seen people degraded to the level that people were in Ahlem. They barely looked human. They were skeletons." After the initial shock, however, Kissinger was relatively silent about his wartime service. During the American advance into Germany, Kissinger, though only a private (the lowest military rank), was put in charge of the administration of the city of Krefeld because of a lack of German speakers on the division's intelligence staff. Within eight days he had established a civilian administration. Kissinger was then reassigned to the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC), where he became a CIC Special Agent holding the enlisted rank of sergeant. He was given charge of a team in Hanover assigned to tracking down Gestapo officers and other saboteurs, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star. Kissinger drew up a comprehensive list of all known Gestapo employees in the Bergstraße region, and had them rounded up. By the end of July, 12 men had been arrested. In March 1947, Fritz Girke, Hans Hellenbroich, Michael Raaf, and Karl Stattmann were subsequently caught and tried by the Dachau Mil.... Discover the Henry Kissinger popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Henry Kissinger books.
Best Seller Henry Kissinger Books of 2024
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Crisis
Henry KissingerBy drawing upon previously unpublished transcripts of his telephone conversations during the Yom Kippur War (1973) and the last days of the Vietnam War (1975), Henry Kissinger reve...
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Kissinger
Niall FergusonFrom the bestselling author of The Ascent of Money and The Square and the Tower, the definitive biography of Henry Kissinger, based on unprecedented access to his pr...
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The Iron Wall
Avi ShlaimAvi Shlaim's The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World is the outstanding book on Israeli foreign policy, now thoroughly updated with a new preface and chapters on Israel's most rec...
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The Oil Kings
Andrew Scott Cooperstruggling with a recession . . . European nations at risk of defaulting on their loans . . . A possible global financial crisis. It happened before, in the 1970s. Oil Kings is the...
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World Order
Henry Kissinger“Dazzling and instructive . . . [a] magisterial new book.” Walter Isaacson, Time"An astute analysis that illuminates many of today's critical international issues." Kirkus Rev...
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The Controversialist
Martin PeretzFeatured in the Wall Street JournalFrom his deep involvement in the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s to his almost forty years at the head of the New Republic, Marti...
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No Peace, No Honor
Larry BermanIn this shocking exposé on the betrayal of South Vietnam, premier historian Larry Berman uses neverbeforeseen North Vietnamese documents to create a sweeping indictment against Pre...
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West Point History of World War II, Vol. 1
The United States Military AcademyAn outstanding new military history of the first half of World War II, featuring a rich array of images, exclusive graphics, superb new maps, and expert analysis commissioned by th...
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Henry Kissinger The Complete Memoirs
Henry KissingerThis ebook box set includes the complete memoirs of Henry Kissinger, detailing his life and work.White House Years: One of the most important books to come out of the Nixon Adminis...
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The Maverick
Thomas HardingThe captivating story of the famed publisher George Weidenfeld, from his struggles as an AustrianJewish refugee in London to his rise as a worldrenowned literary figure. After...
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Reporter
Seymour M. Hersh"Reporter is just wonderful. Truly a great life, and what shines out of the book, amid the low cunning and tireless legwork, is Hersh's warmth and humanity. This book is essential ...
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Lioness
Francine Klagsbrun“Golda Meirimmigrant, Zionist, feminist, and wartime prime minister of Israelclaimed far more than one woman’s share of history. In Lioness, Francine Klagsbrun superbly captur...
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A Political History of the World
Jonathan HolslagA threethousand year history of the world that examines the causes of war and the search for peaceIn three thousand years of history, China has spent at least eleven centuries at w...
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Henry Kissinger
Abraham R. WagnerHenry Kissinger: Pragmatic Statesman in Hostile Times explores the influence of statesman Henry Kissinger in American foreign relations and national security during 1969 to 1977.He...
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The Trial of Henry Kissinger
Christopher Hitchens & Ariel Dorfman"If the courts and lawyers of this country will not do their duty, we shall watch as the victims and survivors of this man pursue justice and vindication in their own dignified and...
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The Yom Kippur War
Abraham RabinovichAn updated edition that sheds new light on one of the most dramatic reversals of military fortune in modern history.The easing of Israeli military censorship after four decades has...
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On China
Henry Kissinger“Fascinating, shrewd . . . The book deftly traces the rhythms and patterns of Chinese history.” Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times“No one can lay claim to so much influence on th...
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Henry Kissinger
Daxton ThomasFollow the mysterious statesman Henry Kissinger on a perceptive trip through his life and work. This biography delves into the complex life of a man who expertly maneuvered through...
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Friends and Enemies
Barbara AmielShockingly honest, richly detailed, and pulling no punches, Friends and Enemies traverses the highs and lows of Barbara Amiel's storied life in journalism and high societ...
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Destiny and Power
Jon Meacham#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In this “illuminating” (USA Today) biography, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jon Meacham chronicles the life of George Herbert Walker Bush.“Destin...
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Bibi
Benjamin NetanyahuIn Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s “compelling” (The Economist) and “fascinating” (The Wall Street Journal) New York Times bestselling autobiography, the prime minister of Israel tells...
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Eighteen Days in October
Uri KaufmanOne of Financial Times' Best History Books of 2023"Pacy and enthralling." Financial Times"Impressive...an excellent work of history." Commentary"Tells the story brilliantly." Senat...
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The Fall of Richard Nixon
Tom BrokawBestselling author Tom Brokaw brings readers inside the White House press corps in this upclose and personal account of the fall of an American president. In August 1974, after his...
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Leadership
Henry KissingerAn instant New York Times bestsellerHenry Kissinger, consummate diplomat and statesman, examines the strategies of six great twentiethcentury figures and brings to life a unifying ...
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American Sketches
Walter IsaacsonOne of America's most versatile writers, author of bestselling biographies such as Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin, has assembled a gallery of portraits of (mostly) Americans that...
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Summary of The Age of AI And Our Human Future By Henry A Kissinger, Eric Schmidt and Daniel Huttenlocher
Justin ReeseDISCLAIMERThis is NOT the original Henry A Kissinger's bookThis is a wellDetailedSummary of The Age of AI And Our Human Future By Henry A Kissinger, Eric Schmidt and Daniel Huttenl...
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An Enormous Crime
Bill Hendon & Elizabeth A. StewartTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAn Enormous Crime is nothing less than shocking. Based on thousands of pages of public and previously classified documents, it makes an utterly convinc...
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Reckless
Robert K. BrighamHenry Kissinger's role in the Vietnam War prolonged the American tragedy and doomed the government of South Vietnam The American war in Vietnam was concluded in 1973 after eight ye...
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The League of Wives
Heath Hardage Lee"With astonishing verve, The League of Wives persisted to speak truth to power to bring their POW/MIA husbands home from Vietnam. And with astonishing verve, Heath Hardage Lee has ...
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The Yom Kippur War
Walter J. BoyneWalter J. Boyne's The Yom Kippur War is a spellbinding chronicle of the international chess game that was played out in October 1973. It is a story of diplomacy and military might ...
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Ibn Saud
Barbara Bray & Michael DarlowIbn Saud grew to manhood living the harsh traditional life of the desert nomad, a life that had changed little since the days of Abraham. Equipped with immense physical courage, he...
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Richard Nixon
John A. FarrellPULITZER PRIZE FINALIST From a prizewinning biographer comes the defining portrait of a man who led America in a time of turmoil and left us a darker age. We live today, John...
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Henry Kissinger
Harvey StarrHenry Kissinger conducted American foreign policy with a distinctive assurance and panache that gave dramatic force to his tenure as secretary of state. His was the shaping hand in...
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Henry Kissinger and American Power
Thomas A. Schwartz[Henry Kissinger and American Power] effectively separates the man from the myths." The Christian Science Monitor | Best books of August 2020The definitive biography of Henry Kis...
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The Good Die Young
Bhaskar Sunkara, René Rojas, Jonah Walter & Greg Grandin"The collection strikes a blackly comic but erudite tone."–Sophia Nguyen, The Washington PostKissinger is dead but his bloodsoaked legacy enduresIf the American foreign policy esta...
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Kissinger
Walter IsaacsonThe definitive biography of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and how his ideas still resonate in the world today from the bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs.B...
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The Mongol Empire
John ManGenghis Khan is one of history's immortals: a leader of genius, driven by an inspiring vision for peaceful world rule. Believing he was divinely protected, Genghis united warring c...
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Presidential Command
Peter W. RodmanAn official in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and both Bush administrations, Peter W. Rodman draws on his firsthand knowledge of the Oval Office to explore the foreignpolicy leadership o...
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Nixon Volume III
Stephen E. AmbroseIn Nixon: Ruin and Recovery, 19731990, Stephen E. Ambrose completes his acclaimed biography of the man many historians call the most fascinating politician in American history: Ric...