Richard Holbrooke began his diplomatic career in Vietnam in 1962, serving in the Mekong Delta and the American embassy in Saigon. After a tour on President Johnson's White House staff in 1966-67, he wrote one volume of the Pentagon Papers, served as special assistant to Undersecretaries of State Nicholas Katzenbach and Elliot Richardson, and was a member of the American delegation to the Paris peace talks on Vietnam. Holbrooke was Peace Corps director in Morocco from 1970 to 1972 and managing editor of Foreign Policy from 1972 to 1976. He served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (1977-81) and U.S. Ambassador to Germany (1993-94). He was Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs from 1994 to 1996, when he became the chief architect of the Dayton Peace Accords. He is co-author of Clark Clifford's memoir, Counsel to the President, and is currently a vice chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston, based in New York. He is married to the author Kati Marton and has two sons, David and Anthony.
In Selecting To End a War as one of the 11 Best Books of the Year,
The New York Times wrote:
"Diplomacy is the grungiest job... But it must be satisfying
because this enthralling book is also a heartfelt call to America
to use its power when societies break down and to become a steady
global force resisting human rights abuses everywhere. It is filled
with anecdotes and sharp pictures of the wily Balkan leaders
Holbrooke had to deal with, as well as with shrewd and seldom
flattering analyses of the personalities and motivations of timid
American and NATO military commanders... His recreation of battles
over principle and tactics with Western generals and State
Department and White House officials are dramatic and his
description of a rudderless Administration during the early days of
his efforts is astonishingly candid, and convincing. His
combativeness may offend the pinstripe set, but it is wonderfully
refreshing on the page. It is a very rare book on diplomacy that
makes you feel you were in the midst of it, and excited to be
there."
--The New York Times Book Review
MORE PRAISE FOR To End A War:
"One of the most important and readable diplomatic memoirs of
recent times... His account should restore some respect to the much
maligned art of diplomacy."
--The Washington Post
"A compelling account of a life-and-death negotiation -- the
personal dynamics, the theatrical gestures, the unexpected snags,
the leaks... A classic exercise in lock-up, great power diplomacy.
To End a War is a riveting book."
--Time
"Holbrooke is brilliant, forceful, determined, focused... In his
intuitive feel for the realities of power diplomacy and his
strategic vision, he is the heir to Henry Kissinger in American
diplomacy."
--The New York Post
"Of all the many excellent books that have been written on Bosnia,
To End A War may turn out to be the most important. Holbrooke has
written a superb book, one that is clear and honest... Bosnia
needed a Holbrooke; perhaps more importantly, so did Washington, if
it was to redeem its besmirched honor."
--Michael Elliott, Newsweek
"Easily the best book of recent years on how to carry off a
diplomatic negotiation... We can only hope that the White House,
Congress and the public are listening, and that generations of
Americans will read Holbrooke's book."
--The Philadelphia Inquirer
"A natural writer, Holbrooke uses poetic license to dramatize
events into an absorbing read. We have him bluffing, shouting at,
or cursing Balkan politicians, negotiating deals of great
consequence on the fly, stitching things together as he goes
along."
--The Boston Globe
"A roller-coaster ride, from the driver's seat... The going is
rambunctious and fascinating."
--Foreign Affairs
"A bravura performance, fascinating, informative and powerfully
argued."
--The New Republic
"Richard Holbrooke is the Quentin Tarantino of diplomacy...
peppered with amusing anecdotes and shrewd insights."
--The Economist
"To End a War should be read by anyone who still believes that the
relationship between the United States military and its political
overseers is healthy."
--Thomas E. Ricks, The Washington Monthly
"The first detailed insider account of foreign policy battles in
the Clinton Presidency. An unsettling, prophetic book."
--Jim Hoagland, The Washington Post
"Riveting and forthright... Holbrooke's memoir is both highly
literate and informed, as well as notably readable. It is steeped
in the tradition of diplomatic memoirs by eminent diplomatauthors
such as Henry Kissinger and Harold Nicolson."
--Kirkus Review (starred)
"A penetrating portrait of modern diplomacy... essential for
understanding how American power can be brought to bear on the
course of history."
--Publishers Weekly
"Holbrooke on Bosnia is legendary."
--The Christian Science Monitor
"Absorbing... What mattered [to Holbrooke] was the exercize of
American leadership in setting the post-cold war global pace, in
keeping the peace in Europe, and in strengthening a Western
alliance badly strained by what was otherwise regarded as a
second-tier regional problem... Holbrooke has been hailed for
prodigies of imperial shrewdness, manipulation, and overall
orchestration. Yet his willingness to second guess some of his own
tactics along the way adds to the credibility of his account."
--Stephen S. Rosenfeld, World Policy Journal
"The Dayton Agreement provided much-needed relief from the horrible
war that preceded it, and it is largely to the credit of Richard
Holbrooke that there is any agreement at all. He has now given us,
in To End A War his memoir of this crucially important negotiation,
the crowning achievement (so far) or an impressive diplomatic
career. The book makes compelling reading."
--Paul Wolfowitz, The National Interest
"To End a War is a good book, well-written and very readable... It
is invaluable to have such a substantial contribution to the public
record, written by a principal player so soon after the event."
--Pauline Neville-Jones, Prospect
"To End a War goes a long way toward revealing a much more human
and thoughtful figure behind the brash, pushy image. Though
Holbrooke was presented in the media as a sort of diplomatic Lone
Ranger, one of the constant themes of this book is the teamwork on
which he always depended. The point is made in a dramatic and
tragic way in his opening chapter, in which he describes how three
of his closest colleagues lost their lives when their armored
vehicle rolled off a mountain track on the outskirts of Sarajevo...
This is one of several genuinely moving moments in To End A
War."
--Noel Malcolm, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"A graphic and insightful account of one of the most difficult
problems the United States has faced since the end of World War
II."
--Warren Christopher
"This brilliant and remarkable book is both an absorbing first hand
narrative of the Balkan conflict and an invaluable contribution to
the history of our time. This is more than a book about Bosnia.
There will be more Bosnias in our future, and To End a War offers
basic guidance about the uses of American power in a dangerous
world."
--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
"What Richard Holbrooke has given us in this impressive diplomatic
memoir is a vivid and well written account of the heroic efforts
put forth by the author himself and the small team he headed to
spare the troubled Balkan region further bloodshed and horror, and
to bring the endangered peoples of Bosnia hope, security, and
normalcy of life."
--George F. Kennan
"Must reading."
--Henry Kissinger
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