cover image An Impossible Dream: Reagan, Gorbachev, and a World Without the Bomb

An Impossible Dream: Reagan, Gorbachev, and a World Without the Bomb

Guillaume Serina, trans. from the French by David A. Andelman. Pegasus, $25.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-64313-084-2

French journalist Serina provides a lackluster look behind the scenes of the historic 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, during which Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev tried to agree on reductions to their countries’ nuclear arms stockpiles. Gorbachev’s ascendancy provided an opportunity for progress in arms talks, and, after his first meeting with Reagan in Geneva in 1985, their two countries agreed to a follow-up. Over the course of two days, the leaders offered proposals and counterproposals, but Reagan’s commitment to SDI, a space-based defense system intended to shoot down enemy missiles, nicknamed Star Wars, remained a major sticking point. The talks collapsed, although they paved the way for subsequent agreements. Sloppiness over details (Rudy Giuliani was not still the mayor of New York City in 2002) doesn’t inspire confidence in the author’s commitment to accuracy, and stiff, sometimes awkward prose (“Gorbachev would try to speed up the calendar. Even if that meant forcing the destiny of the world.”) suggests something was lost in the translation. Even diplomacy buffs may want to give this one a pass. (July)