SOURCE: A review of White House Years, in American Jewish History, Vol. 70, No. 2, December, 1980, pp. 255–61.

In the following essay discussing White House Years, Ganin focuses on Kissinger's analysis of the Arab-Israeli conflict and his role in Middle East peace negotiations during his tenure as national security advisor to President Nixon.

Since World War II few international disputes have elicited such acute interest and vast literature as the Arab-Israeli conflict. Obviously, the four Arab-Israeli wars have captured the greatest interest of journalists, those writers of “instant history” who rush their manuscripts to print before the public eye is attracted to another war. But another facet of the Arab-Israeli conflict—less visible and dramatic, yet of equal importance—has been the secret and continuous diplomacy intended at mitigating or resolving this conflict. The United States has been actively engaged in such diplomacy since the Truman era. Memoirs of American and...