X-Book

Kissinger

Click Buy to Log in and see personalised pricing.

Send as a gift Get in the xigxag app

Listen to a sample

What to expect

By the time Henry Kissinger was made secretary of state in 1973, he had become, according to a Gallup poll, the most admired person in America and one of the most unlikely celebrities ever to capture the world's imagination. Yet Kissinger was also reviled by large segments of the American public, ranging from liberal intellectuals to conservative activists. Kissinger explores the relationship between this complex man's personality and the foreign policy he pursued. Drawing on extensive interviews with Kissinger as well as 150 other sources, including US presidents and his business clients, this first full-length biography makes use of many of Kissinger's private papers and classified memos to tell his uniquely American story. The result is an intimate narrative, filled with surprising revelations, that follows this grandly colorful statesman from his childhood as a persecuted Jew in Nazi Germany, through his tortured relationship with Richard Nixon, to his later years as a globe-trotting business consultant.

Critics Review

“Kissinger is a triumph. Isaacon writes…with sympathy, verve, imagination, insight, and a keen eye. A stunning achievement.”

Stephen E. Ambrose, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Confirms Kissinger’s place as one of the great
international players and takes him down a peg as well…Kissinger will rave
about the parts he likes and rage about the rest…This makes for compulsive
reading.”

Peter Jennings

“In its range and research, it is the book to
end all books on Mr. Kissinger. For his aficionados, it makes compulsive
reading; for students of his years of influence on United States foreign
policy, it is compulsory.”

New York Times

“Mr. Isaacson’s work is a model of insight, delicacy, and fairness that moves at a lively pace through recent American history and re-creates, inconsiderable depth, the intellectuals and politicians who formed its foreign policy.”

New Yorker

“[A] wonderful, entertaining, definitive biography.”

Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Meticulously researched, intelligent, and fair…A
book full of insights.”

Washington Post

“A solidly researched, richly textured, and
extremely readable account of a man in dramatic times who seemed bigger than
life.”

Boston Sunday Globe

“The fullest account of Kissinger’s life and
career to date, other than for his memoirs…A spooky, engrossing portrait of the
only European-style realist ever to guide US foreign policy.”

Publishers Weekly

“This
biography of Henry Kissinger is enhanced by Malcolm Hillgartner’s
outstanding narration. His delivery is lively, and he’s a great
storyteller—no half-bored professor intoning a history lecture here…The
lengthy book presents a full portrait of Kissinger in all his
egotistical, power-grubbing, brilliant complexity. It covers everything
from his German childhood to his family’s flight from the Nazis, his
college years, and his rise to power as a controversial secretary of
state in the Nixon and Ford administrations.”

AudioFile

“As a commanding opus for the present, enlivened by snippets from hundreds of interviews, Isaacson raises a high bar for any historians who challenge him.”

Booklist

“Isaacson…has produced much more than another
unauthorized biography…While there are other excellent Kissinger biographies,
this work is the best to date on Henry K. Superstar.”

Library Journal

“A critical but resolutely objective and utterly
fascinating biography of the guileful, egocentric geopolitical scientist who
became America’s most celebrated secretary of state…An authoritative and
comprehensive account…An evenhanded, warts-and-all portrait of a
larger-than-life individual who has left his mark behind.”

Kirkus Reviews
Author Walter Isaacson
Narrator Malcolm Hillgartner
Duration 1 day, 10 hours and 30 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781483073569
Format Audiobook
Publisher Blackstone Publishing
Genre Biography: general, Biography: historical, political and military, History of the Americas, Political leaders and leadership
Availability AU, GB, IE, US

About xigxag

xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK’s only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.

There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at £8.99. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from £3.99. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.

Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.

Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.