A brilliant and revealing biography of the two most important Americans during the Cold War era—written by the grandson of one of them

Only two Americans held positions of great influence throughout the Cold War; ironically, they were the chief advocates for the opposing strategies for winning—and surviving—that harrowing conflict. Both men came to power during World War II, reached their professional peaks during the Cold War’s most frightening moments, and fought epic political battles that spanned decades. Yet despite their very different views, Paul Nitze and George Kennan dined together, attended the weddings of each other’s children, and remained good friends all their lives.

In this masterly double biography, Nicholas Thompson brings Nitze and Kennan to vivid life. Nitze—the hawk—was a consummate insider who believed that the best way to avoid a nuclear clash was to prepare to win one. More than any other American, he was responsible for the arms race. Kennan—the dove—was a diplomat turned academic whose famous “X article” persuasively argued that we should contain the Soviet Union while waiting for it to collapse from within. For forty years, he exercised more influence on foreign affairs than any other private citizen.

As he weaves a fascinating narrative that follows these two rivals and friends from the beginning of the Cold War to its end, Thompson accomplishes something remarkable: he tells the story of our nation during the most dangerous half century in history.

Nicholas Thompson is a senior editor at The New Yorker and the author of "The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War."

Prior to The New Yorker, Mr. Thompson was a senior editor at Wired Magazine, Legal Affairs and an editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a contributing editor at Bloomberg Television, and a weekly contributor to CNN International.

Paul Nitze's grandson, he has worked for the past four years on this book. A New York Times profile says, "The book is brimming with fascinating revelations about the men and the harrowing events they steered through." A New York Times book review calls it "Thoroughly engrossing ... Thompson succeeds admirably in blending biography and intellectual history, painting colorful portraits of complicated men who embodied conflicting strains of American thinking about foreign policy."

And the Washington Post writes: "In The Hawk and the Dove, Nicholas Thompson, an editor at Wired magazine, skillfully contrasts Nitze and Kennan. Thompson, who is Nitze's grandson, brings a judicial impartiality to the fierce disputes that raged between the two men. Thompson has enjoyed full access to his grandfather's archival documents, but perhaps his most impressive accomplishment is to have mined Kennan's extensive diaries for new insights. In this important and astute new study, Nitze emerges as a driven patriot and Kennan as a darkly conflicted and prophetic one."

The Washington Times said it "may be the most important political biography in recent memory."