Fighting the Cold War; A Soldier's Memoir

Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2918. First Paperback Edition [stated]. Presumed first printing. Trade paperback. Very good. xv, [1], 517, [3] pages. Illustrations. Index. Foreword by General David H. Petraeus, USA (ret.) Publisher's ephemera laid in. Cover has slight wear and soiling. John Rogers Galvin (May 13, 1929 - September 25, 2015) was an American army general who served as the sixth dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a member of the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century. Galvin's career included the rare opportunity to command two different Department of Defense Unified Commands. He served as Commander in Chief, United States Southern Command in Panama from 1985 to 1987 and Commander in Chief, United States European Command from June 26, 1987, to June 23, 1992. During his tenure as Commander U.S. European Command he also served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR). In Fighting the Cold War: A Soldier's Memoir, the celebrated soldier, scholar, and statesman recounts his active participation in more than sixty years of international history -- from the onset of World War II through the fall of the Berlin Wall and the post--Cold War era. In his memoir, he recounts fascinating behind-the-scenes anecdotes about his interactions with world leaders, describing encounters such as his experience of watching President Jose Napoleon Duarte argue eloquently against US intervention in El Salvador; and his discussion with General William Westmoreland about soldiers' conduct in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia. Galvin recalls his complex negotiations with a number of often difficult foreign heads of state, including Manuel Noriega, Augusto Pinochet, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Ratko Mladi. As NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during the tumultuous five years that ended the Cold War, Galvin played a key role in shaping a new era.