Home : Book details : Book description

Description of  Reagan at Reykjavik: Forty-Eight Hours That Ended the Cold War

A dramatic account of the historic 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Icelandthe turning point in the Cold Warby Ken Adelman, Reagan's arms control director and a key player in that weekend's world-changing events In October 1986, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met for a forty-eight-hour summit in Reykjavik, Iceland. Planned as a short gathering to outline future talks, the meeting quickly turned to major international issues, including SDI ("Star Wars") and the possibility of eliminating all nuclear weapons. Both men were at the height of their powers, and they had a rare opportunity to move toward peace. The meeting led to negotiations and concessions that neither side had predictedand laid the groundwork for the most sweeping arms accord in history, adopted the following year, and the end of the Soviet Union a half decade later. From his position as a participant in these historic events, Ken Adelman is able to reveal the motivations, relationships, and conversations that led to the summit's breakthroughs. His analysis as both a participant and historian provides an invaluable perspective on this uniquely significant episode. Scrupulously researched and based on now-declassified documents, Reagan at Reykjavik tells the gripping tale of the weekend that changed the world. Adelman provides an honest, laser-etched portrait of President Reagan at one of his finest and most challenging momentsand, indisputably, one of the most significant triumphs of his presidency.