Witness to the End: Cold War Revelations 1959-1969

by Bernard W. Poirier

Overview

Witness to the End describes formerly secret chapters between 1959-1969 of the Cold War when the U.S. caught up to the Soviet Union's lead in rockets and missiles. Drawing on his personal experience as the Foreign Programs Officer and Assistant to the Chief Scientist, Special Projects Office for the development of the Fleet Ballistic Missiles for US Nuclear submarines, Poirier leads the reader through confrontations and secret meetings at sea, and explains why President Eisenhower and President Kennedy had to place their bets on Polaris nuclear submarines. Witness to the End also contains various recently declassified photos, including a 1956 photo from a U-2. This book will appeal to anyone interested in the history of the Cold War, in espionage, in the Holocaust, foreign intrigue, nuclear deterrence and the evolution of its doctrine in foreign affairs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761818458
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	11/08/2000
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	5.68(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Bernard W. Poirier is a Business Consultant and American writer based in Paris. He has been a lecturer at the MBA and DBA levels on international financing and on the World Bank at the fully accredited International School of Management in Paris. From 1959-1963, he was a civilian employee of the US Navy, where he worked on President J.F. Kennedy's Multilateral Nuclear Force proposal to NATO and on the president's position paper for his December 1962 Nassau meeting with Macmillan. He was also named to the Defense Department's negotiation team to hammer out the US/UK Polaris Sales Agreement, before ending as Foreign Programs Officer and Assistant to the Chief Scientists, Special Projects Office.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 List of Photographs Chapter 2 List of Abbreviations Chapter 3 Preface Chapter 4 Acknowledgements Chapter 5 Fitting in at the Pentagon Chapter 6 A Legend Molds his Team's Spirit Chapter 7 Espionage, Shortcomings, and Fatalities Chapter 8 Eisenhower's Last Watch Chapter 9 Kennedy Relies on Polaris Chapter 10 Mixed Manning, NATO, and the MLF Chapter 11 The Evolution of New Weapons Chapter 12 Political Pressure on Military Developments Chapter 13 Changing of the Guard Chapter 14 State Department's Inconsistent Foreign Policy Chapter 15 Vietnam, CIA, and Naval Intelligence Chapter 16 Naval Contributions to Foreign Affairs Chapter 17 Double Crisis: Cuba and Nassau Chapter 18 Kennedy and Nuclear Proliferation Chapter 19 The Royal Navy Arrives Chapter 20 The Saddest Day and the Longest Lie Chapter 21 Fitting in Overseas Chapter 22 Soviets Were No Match for the American Mind Game Chapter 23 US Corporate Manners in Europe Chapter 24 The Long Reach of Intelligence Techniques Chapter 25 Porous Iron Curtain Chapter 26 French Distractions and Projects Chapter 27 International Spats and Uncommon Valor Chapter 28 Afterword Chapter 29 Appendixes Chapter 30 Author Biographical Sketch

Editorial Reviews

...Poirier's book will fill in a lot of gaps for scholars studying this period today.

The Call

Poirier's personal account of the decade he spent in back-room politics as a civilian employee of the US Navy Department in Washington, with International Telephone and Telegraph Europe in Brussels and Paris, and as assistant to US Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska. He was present during many of the actual events that changed the course of history during the period, and provides perspectives left out of press reports and official records. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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