This unusual history of the first four secretaries-general of NATO and their importance in the post-war politics of Western defense is a study of diplomacy-of individuals and the impact of their personalities on international events. It can perhaps best be described in terms of what it is not. It is not, for example, exclusively a book on NATO, nor is it a text on international organization. It is neither a history of European politics nor an analysis of East-West relations. It is not a specialized study of nuclear politics, and it does not pretend to be a record of the political interplay...