This is a very well-informed, intelligent and often fascinating account of the policymaking process regarding nuclear nonproliferation during the Ford and Carter Administrations. Far more than a narrator, the author makes knowledgeable and critical assessments along the way. He finds the overall performance of the U.S. government in dealing with this complex issue to be woefully incompetent, but his standards may be unrealistically high. This scholarly case study should be of use to all students of bureaucratic politics.