KISSINGER - 1973, THE CRUCIAL YEAR

'Kissinger: 1973, The Crucial Year' is the history of one of America's most enigmatic and influential foreign policy advisers during a pivotal year in the country's postwar history. By any measure, 1973 was not an ordinary year. It should have been Kissinger's year of triumph — a time to bask in his hard-won achievements and build on his successes. Kissinger's strategy of opening the door to China and détente with the Soviet Union had been judged an overwhelming success. After furthering his policy of realpolitik through backchannel diplomacy during Nixon's first term, Kissinger was finally awarded the plum position of secretary of state. But then major events shattered whatever peace and calm America had attained in the early part of the decade: first came defeat in Vietnam; then Watergate, culminating in the president's resignation; war in the Middle East; and finally an economic collapse caused by the Arab oil embargo. All of these momentous blows to the country's security occurred on Henry Kissinger's watch. Rather than progressing on all fronts, as he had expected, Kissinger would confront some of the most critical policy challenges of his career.