Time of Fear and Hope: The Making of the North Atlantic Treaty 1947-1949

Reviewed by Richard G. Head

A first-hand account of the issues, alternatives, and diplomatic maneuvering that went into the establishment of NATO. Hardly a revisionist, the author was second-in-command to Lester Pearson during the crucial treaty-making period. The result is balanced and self-critical, acknowledging that NATO was "a partial and imperfect response" to the problem of Soviet military power, a problem that remains undiminished by time.