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Fighting For Peace: Seven Critical Years In The Pentagon

Caspar W. Weinberger
Reviewed by By Gregory F. Treverton
Fall 1990
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Caspar W. Weinberger
Warner Books
1990
464 pp.
$24.95

This is no kiss-and-tell account, far from it; Weinberger remains loyal to his president, a nice change from most of his Reagan administration colleagues. The book is not long on perspective. The only administration action Weinberger sharply criticizes is the arms sales to Iran (though he is critical enough of Robert McFarlane to have prompted threats of lawsuits). But the book provides a wealth of material for future historians to argue about. Weinberger, for instance, implies he was the architect of the "zero option" arms control offer and relegates Richard Perle to a distinctly secondary, though admired, role.

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