Professor Rothschild recognizes his dilemma: how to recount the domestic and international history of seven countries over four decades in a limited space. All in all, he manages to include the essential facts and trends, soberly and deftly interpreted, and also to throw an occasional dart at individual actors on the scene or at policies, mainly Soviet or American, he deems misguided or immoral. The book is admirably suited for its intended audience, the student and the general reader.