In this Book
- The Kremlinologist: Llewellyn E Thompson, America's Man in Cold War Moscow
- Book
- 2018
- Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press
- Series: Johns Hopkins Nuclear History and Contemporary Affairs

summary
An Owl in a Hawk’s World: Top diplomat Llewellyn E Thompson was everywhere the Cold War was.Winner of the New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for Best BiographyWinner of the New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for Best BiographyAgainst the sprawling backdrop of the Cold War, The Kremlinologist revisits some of the twentieth century's greatest conflicts as seen through the eyes of its hardest working diplomat, Llewellyn E Thompson. From the wilds of the American West to the inner sanctums of the White House and the Kremlin, Thompson became an important advisor to presidents and a key participant in major global events, including the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. Yet unlike his contemporaries Robert S. McNamara and Dean Rusk, who considered Thompson one of the most crucial Cold War actors and the "unsung hero" of the Cuban Missile Crisis, he has not been the subject of a major biography—until now. Thompson's daughters Jenny and Sherry Thompson skillfully and thoroughly document his life as an accomplished career diplomat. In vigorous prose, they describe how Thompson joined the Foreign Service both to feed his desire for adventure and from a deep sense of duty. They also detail the crucial role he played as a negotiator unafraid of compromise. Known in the State Department as "Mr. Tightlips," Thompson was the epitome of discretion. People from completely opposite ends of the political spectrum lauded his approach to diplomacy and claimed him as their own. Refuting historical misinterpretations of the Berlin Crisis, the Austrian State Treaty, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Thompsons tell their father's fascinating story. With unprecedented access to Thompson's FBI dossier, State Department personnel files, letters, diaries, speeches, and documents, and relying on probing interviews and generous assistance from American and Russian archivists, historians, and government officials, the authors bring new material to light, including important information on the U-2, Kennan's containment policy, and Thompson's role in US covert operations machinery. This unique and monumental biography not only restores a central figure to history, it makes the crucial events he shaped accessible to a broader readership and gives contemporary readers a backdrop for understanding the fraught United StatesRussia relationship that still exists today.
Table of Contents

- Title Page, Copyright Page
- pp. i-vi
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-xii
- 1 The Beginning
- pp. 5-12
- 2 Into the World
- pp. 13-18
- 3 To Moscow
- pp. 19-25
- 4 The Siege of Moscow
- pp. 26-38
- 5 The Germans in Retreat
- pp. 39-47
- 6 Conferences
- pp. 48-55
- 8 The Truman Doctrine
- pp. 61-68
- 9 The Birth of Covert Operations
- pp. 69-79
- 10 Overseas Again
- pp. 80-88
- Part II: Negotiations
- pp. 89-90
- 11 Chief of Mission
- pp. 91-100
- 12 The Trieste Negotiations
- pp. 101-115
- 13 The Austrian State Treaty Negotiations
- pp. 116-131
- 14 Open Skies, Closed Borders
- pp. 132-146
- Part III: Diplomacy
- pp. 147-148
- 15 Khrushchev’s Decade (1953–1964)
- pp. 149-151
- 16 Moscow 2
- pp. 152-164
- 17 Khrushchev’s First Gamble: Berlin Poker
- pp. 165-179
- 18 Dueling Exhibitions
- pp. 180-189
- 19 The Russian Is Coming
- pp. 190-201
- 20 U-2: The End of Détente
- pp. 202-221
- 21 Picking Up the Pieces
- pp. 222-232
- 22 Working for the New President
- pp. 233-245
- 23 Meeting in Vienna
- pp. 246-265
- 26 Goodbye Moscow, Hello Washington
- pp. 284-297
- 27 Thirteen Days in October
- pp. 298-333
- 28 Limited Test Ban
- pp. 334-354
- Part IV: Policy
- pp. 355-356
- 29 The Lyndon Johnson Years
- pp. 357-365
- 30 Strand One: Vietnam (1962–1967)
- pp. 366-369
- 31 Thomps on’s Vietnam
- pp. 370-390
- 32 Strand Two: Nonproliferation (1962–1967)
- pp. 391-403
- 34 Moscow 3
- pp. 413-427
- 35 The Six-Day War: Hotline Diplomacy
- pp. 428-434
- 37 1968: A Year of Frustrated Promise
- pp. 451-464
- 38 “Retirement,” So to Speak
- pp. 465-478
- Bibliography
- pp. 567-572
Additional Information
ISBN
9781421424101
Related ISBN(s)
9781421424095, 9781421424545
MARC Record
OCLC
1027904391
Pages
600
Launched on MUSE
2018-03-09
Language
English
Open Access
No