Memoirs 1925-1950 (1967)

Kennan thinks clearly and writes in a style that is a pleasure to read. The period covered includes his time in the State Department up to his departure for academia. For an understanding of the US response to the problem of Soviet Russia, this book is essential. ( )

Kennan is one of the most fascinating figures in American 20th-century history, and he shows why in what has to be ranked among the most elegant and insightful autobiographies ever written. ( )

943 Memoirs 1925-1950, by George F. Kennan (read 16 Feb 1968) (Pulitzer Biography prize for 1968) (National Book Award nonfiction prize for 1968) This book started intriguingly, but then turned sour as Kennan became plaintive and ego-centered. ( )

Read 12/1997

If you care about America how can you not read this book? and having read it how can you fail to see Kennan as anything but a friendly, but no less perceptive, critic of what America is and how our actions in the world at large define what we become? ( )