In the shadows of history

"In the Shadows of History is Chester L. Cooper's memoir of his more than five decades in government service. He offers unique, behind-the-scenes insights into the personalities of many now historic individuals, including Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara; Secretaries of State Dean Rusk and John Foster Dulles; CIA Director Allen Dulles; Ambassador Averell Harriman; British leaders Anthony Eden and Harold Wilson; Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushechev; and North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh. Readers will be taken behind the scenes of the United States' most dramatic postwar confrontations and will learn how close the calls really were and how brinkmanship worked at the highest diplomatic levels." "Cooper's reflections on the friendships, animosities, and enduring relationships within this vast network of government insiders reveal the human side of policy-making and offer important lessons for the future course of international relations." "Finally, threading its way through In the Shadows of History, hardly perceptible in the midst of the chaos and confusion of the post-World War II decades, is a love story that explains how Cooper was able to emerge intact from each turbulent event to serve our nation's statesmen during future diplomatic challenges."--Jacket.