Sketches from a Life
New York: Pantheon Books, 1989. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. xiv, 365, [3] pages. Occasional footnotes. Some edge soiling. DJ has some wear and soiling. Rare with inscription dated by Kennan on fep. Inscription reads For Schuyler Chapin in appreciation for valued friendship and generous support George Kennan Princeton May, 1989. Taped inside the front cover is a postcard from Norway with a handwritten and signed note from George K. Laid in is a second postcard from Norway with a handwritten and signed note from George K. Also laid in is a Pantheon press release on the book. George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904- March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat, political scientist, and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War. He was also a core member of the group known as "The Wise Men". His writings inspired the Truman Doctrine and the U.S. foreign policy of "containing" the Soviet Union. His "Long Telegram" from Moscow in 1946 argued that the Soviet regime was inherently expansionist and that its influence had to be "contained" in areas of vital strategic importance to the United States. Kennan played a leading role in the development of definitive Cold War programs, notably the Marshall Plan. Some of Kennan's proposals were discounted by the Truman administration and Kennan's influence was marginalized, particularly after Dean Acheson was appointed secretary of state in 1949. In 1950, Kennan left the Department of State except for two brief ambassadorial stints in Moscow and Yugoslavia and became a leading realist critic of U.S. foreign policy. More