--Gilbert Taylor. ), W.W. Norton, 2014, 712 pp., $39.95.. He was thought of as a strategist and as these diaries make clear, he spent much of his life thinking about political philosophy. And the success of that policy proved his ideas, first expressed in the 1940s, farsighted and wise. At one point, for instance, he advocated a benevolent dictatorship. I was most interested in what he wrote in the section of the diaries covering the late 1990’s about not allowing the former USSR countries such as Poland, Hungry, and Ukraine to join NATO. Book Review: 'The Kennan Diaries' by George F. Kennan George F. Kennan's views on domestic politics were as short of patience, subtlety and sympathy as his foreign-policy views were adorned by them. Yet, if it wasn’t the pinnacle, neither was it the capstone; over the next fifty years, Kennan would become the most respected foreign policy thinker of the twentieth century, giving influential lectures, advising presidents, and authoring twenty books, winning two Pulitzer prizes and two National Book awards in the process. He was the author of the strategy of containment that the United States adopted for the cold war. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Masterfully selected and annotated by historian Frank Costigliola, the result is a landmark work of profound intellectual and emotional power. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, $12.53 Shipping & Import Fees Deposit to France. The Kennan Diaries (Audible Audio Edition): George F. Kennan, Frank Costigliola (editor), William Dufris, Audible Studios: Amazon.ca: Audible Audiobooks A landmark collection, spanning ninety years of U.S. history, of the never-before-published diaries of George F. Kennan, America’s most famous diplomat. In 1946, the forty-two-year-old Kennan authored the “Long Telegram,” a 5,500-word indictment of the Kremlin that became mandatory reading in Washington. On a hot July afternoon in 1953, George F. Kennan descended the steps of the State Department building as a newly retired man. The diary reveals him to be a brilliant man but also one with problems of loneliness, self-doubt, and suffering from period bouts of depression. A landmark collection, spanning ninety years of U.S. history, of the never-before-published diaries of George F. Kennan, America’s most famous diplomat., The Kennan Diaries, Frank Costigliola, George F Kennan, 9780393073270 George Frost Kennan kept a diary from 1924 to 2004 — a life in writing that most people would happily call a life. An excellent account of a brilliant analytic's mind. The Kennan Diaries (Book) : Kennan, George F. : On a hot July afternoon in 1953, George F. Kennan descended the steps of the State Department building as a newly retired man. The Kennan Diaries, Frank Costigliola (ed. Kennan did not like automobiles, planes or fax machines; I. George F. Kennan was the most celebrated diplomat-intellectual of the 20th century. Kennan did not like automobiles, planes or fax machines; I wonder what he would say about all the electronic gadgets we have today. ... Foreign policy strategist and American diplomat George F. Kennan … Kennan, of course, did this in a best-selling book (Around the Cragged Hill, 1993), but in this format his ideas appear in unrefined though typically trenchant form. Reading this alone may not do the man justice. Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2014. The zenith of his career (and thus his life) comes just as the US acknowledges its leading role in terms of both world power and economic predominance. Many observations of 20th century leaders too. In the diary he was most upset about how the book was ignored. Welcome back. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We’d love your help. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. A landmark collection, spanning 90 years of U.S. history, of the never-before-published diaries of George F. Kennan, America’s most famous diplomat. In his diaries he recorded not only the events of his life working in American diplomacy but also his reactions to the events in which he was involved. These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. His career had been tumultuous: early postings in eastern Europe followed by Berlin in 1940–41 and Moscow in the last year of World War II.