“[Matlock’s] account of Reagan’s achievement as the nation’s diplomat in chief is a public service.”—The New York Times Book Review“Engrossing . . . authoritative . . . a detailed and reliable narrative that future historians will be able to draw on to illuminate one of the most dramatic periods in modern history.”—Los Angeles Times Book ReviewIn Reagan and Gorbachev, Jack F. Matlock, Jr., a former U.S. ambassador...

Is there a sharp dividing line that separates Europe into "East" and "West"?This volume brings together prominent scholars from the United States, Canada, France, Poland, and Russia to examine the evolution of the concept of Europe in the two centuries between the French Revolution and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Inspired by the ideas of Martin Malia, the contributors take a flexible view of the "cultural gradient"-the emergence, interaction, and reception of ideas across Eur...

"This persuasive, occasionally provocative book corrects a number of pervasive myths about the Cold War"—from the former U.S. ambassador to the USSR ( Publishers Weekly ).In Superpower Illusions, Jack F. Matlock refutes the enduring idea that the United States forced the collapse of the Soviet Union by applying military and economic pressure—with wide-ranging implications for U.S. foreign policy. Matlock ...

Essays on a presidency during a pivotal period in international affairs, informed by newly declassified documents.Throughout his presidency, Ronald Reagan sought "peace through strength" during an era of historic change. In the decades since, pundits and scholars have argued over the president's legacy: Some consider Reagan a charismatic and consummate leader who renewed American strength and defeated communism; to others he was an ambitious and dangerous warmonger ...