Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist

　　《經濟學人》盛讚、《華爾街日報》推薦必讀的最權威季辛吉傳記，未公開私人文件首次曝光！
 
　　歷史上，從沒有一位政治家如同季辛吉一般充滿爭議。大家曾管他叫做「超人K」，從甘迺迪到歐巴馬，歷屆總統皆重視他的意見，他被視為是美國政壇不可或缺的一號人物，但與此同時，陰謀論者卻也總說他是濫權瀆職的無恥政客。
 
　　然而在這本巨著中，作者尼爾．佛格森卻引用大量季辛吉迄今尚未對外公開的私人文件以及上百件檔案文獻，為季辛吉平反：多年來外界認為季辛吉是一無情殘酷的極端外交現實主義者，實是存在著極大誤解。
 
　　季辛吉前半生，就像一樁耳熟能詳的典型美國夢：從希特勒統治下的猶太難民，到進出白宮的大人物。在本書前兩章，佛格森描寫季辛吉在被尼克森任命為國家安全顧 問前，已靠著自身努力力爭上游。從一個工廠少年起步、加入美國陸軍，一直到進入哈佛就讀，並發現一生職涯的抱負所在，之後更受到前美國副總統洛克斐勒、總 統甘迺迪賞識。季辛吉的崛起，完全無庸置疑。
 
　　《Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist》，講述的是美國史上最重要戰略思想家的故事。這是一部關於季辛吉的成長小說，而他的從政生涯，不但是美蘇冷戰時代一道不可忽視的力量，也是那個時代，必須被記憶住的一個縮影。

The definitive biography of Henry Kissinger, based on unprecedented access to his private papers

No American statesman has been as revered or as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Once hailed as "Super K"--the "indispensable man" whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama--he has also been hounded by conspiracy theorists, scouring his every "telcon" for evidence of Machiavellian malfeasance. Yet as Niall Ferguson shows in this magisterial two-volume biography, drawing not only on Kissinger''s hitherto closed private papers but also on documents from more than a hundred archives around the world, the idea of Kissinger as the ruthless arch-realist is based on a profound misunderstanding.

The first half of Kissinger''s life is usually skimmed over as a quintessential tale of American ascent: the Jewish refugee from Hitler''s Germany who made it to the White House. But in this first of two volumes, Ferguson shows that what Kissinger achieved before his appointment as Richard Nixon''s national security adviser was astonishing in its own right. Toiling as a teenager in a New York factory, he studied indefatigably at night. He was drafted into the U.S. infantry and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge--as well as the liberation of a concentration camp--but ended his army career interrogating Nazis. It was at Harvard that Kissinger found his vocation. Having immersed himself in the philosophy of Kant and the diplomacy of Metternich, he shot to celebrity by arguing for "limited nuclear war." Nelson Rockefeller hired him. Kennedy called him to Camelot. Yet Kissinger''s rise was anything but irresistible. Dogged by press gaffes and disappointed by "Rocky," Kissinger seemed stuck--until a trip to Vietnam changed everything.

The Idealist is the story of one of the most important strategic thinkers America has ever produced. It is also a political Bildungsroman, explaining how "Dr. Strangelove" ended up as consigliere to a politician he had always abhorred. Like Ferguson''s classic two-volume history of the House of Rothschild, Kissinger sheds dazzling new light on an entire era. The essential account of an extraordinary life, it recasts the Cold War world.

Niall Ferguson is one of the world’s most renowned historians. He is the author of Paper and Iron, The House of Rothschild, The Pity of War, The Cash Nexus, Empire, Colossus, The War of the World, The Ascent of Money, High Financier, Civilization, The Great Degeneration, Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist, and The Square and the Tower. He is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. His many awards include the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service (2010), the Hayek Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2012) and the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism (2013).