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The Brink of War: Inside the Reagan-Gorbachev Weekend that Changed the World
Paperback
International RelationsWeapons of Mass Destruction
ISBN13: 9781969679520
Publisher: Munn Avenue Press
Published: Jul 27 2026
Pages: 398
Weight: 1.17
Height: 0.82 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
What really happened during the extraordinary 48 hours when Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev came face-to-face at the height of the Cold War, with the world standing on the brink of nuclear showdown?
A riveting history of one of the most important moments of the Cold War. Adelman has written a page-turning narrative that leaves us on the edge of our seats.
-Ken Burns
In October 1986, as tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union pushed the world to a dangerous cliff, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland, for what was expected to be an empty grip-and-grin session. Instead, over that one weekend, the two leaders engaged in a series of high-stakes negotiations that fundamentally altered the course of history.
Former arms control director and top Reagan aide, Ken Adelman, delivers the gripping inside story of the Reykjavik summit and the remarkable 48 hours that launched: 1) a precipitous decline in nuclear arsenals, 2) new emphasis on defenses against missiles (and later drones), and 3) actions which led to the end of the Cold War and to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Filled with astonishing behind-the-scenes in a desolate Icelandic house reputed to be haunted, The Brink of War reads like a political thriller while revealing the high drama of a hugely consequential meeting.
Inside the haunted halls of Hofdi House came tense emotional clashes between two larger-than-life figures, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. At Reagan's side, top policy advisor Ken Adelman takes readers inside the room where the future of the world hung in the balance. Drawing on newly declassified documents, personal experience, and decades of hindsight, he reveals how Reykjavik reshaped superpower relations and changed history forever.
Part historical revelation, part eyewitness memoir, and part warning for today's time, The Brink of War is a timely and riveting account of presidential leadership, contrasting ideologies, and the fragile line between peace and catastrophe.
If you love a gripping story of political events, Cold War intrigue, political maneuvering, and dramatic episodes that changed the world, this is a book you cannot miss.
Buy The Brink of War: Inside the Reagan-Gorbachev Weekend that Changed the World today and discover the extraordinary weekend that helped change the course of history.
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