With the nuclear weapons era nearing the five-decade mark, this succinct history of the American approach to nonproliferation is a welcome addition to the arms control bookshelf. Particularly good is the author's ability to identify and describe the inevitable trade-offs between nonproliferation and other goals in the making of foreign policy. The treatment is chronological, all the best source materials have been consulted, and the complex tale is well organized and clearly written. A made-to-order book for university courses.