By any measure, 1973 should have been Henry Kissinger's year of triumph. But major events--defeat in Vietnam, Watergate, war in the Middle East, the Arab oil embargo--shattered whatever peace and calm America had attained in the early part of the decade. Rather than progressing on all fronts, as he had expected, Kissinger had to confront some of the most critical policy challenges of his career, including the blowup in the Middle East, detente with Russia, and the opening of the door to China."

Kissinger: 1973, The Crucial Year "is the gripping history of one of America's most enigmatic and influential foreign policy advisers during a pivotal year in the country's postwar history.

Alistair Horne, the author of, most recently, Seven Ages of Paris, The Age of Napoleon, and The French Revolution, is a fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford. He was awarded the French Légion d’honneur in 1993 and received a knighthood in 2003 for his work on French history. His books include Back into Power, Small Earthquake in Chile, The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916, To Lose a Battle: France 1940, The French Army and Politics, 1870–1970, A Bundle from Britain, and A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962. He lives in Oxfordshire.