Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism

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Summary: A compelling account of Reagan's crusade against Communism
Review: REAGAN'S WAR begins with a terse retelling of the "Battle of Hollywood," a violent 1946 strike by a Communist-controlled labor union against the Warner Brothers studio. The strike fizzled, as did the Communist attempt to take over a studio. From the perspective of the Kremlin, it must have seemed like a small defeat at the time. But the unintended consequence of that strike was that an actor on the Warner lot, Ronald Reagan, began to realize that Communism posed a serious threat to American liberty.

REAGAN'S WAR tells the story of how Reagan developed his commitment to rolling back Communism and how his policies resulted in a fatal blow to the evil Soviet empire.

REAGAN'S WAR is not a biography, but a reexamination of Reagan's life through the narrowing prism of anti-Communism. Loyal Reaganites will find little emphasis on Reagan's tax-cutting fervor, or the resulting economic expansion. Critics of the Reagan Administration may be disappointed that Iran-Contra is mentioned only briefly (and Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North only once). But the readers who will be the most dissatisfied --- if they read the book at all --- will be the former Communist elite in the former Soviet Union.

For them, REAGAN'S WAR will bring back only painful memories of tyranny past.

The part of the book that will most educate readers deals with Reagan's formative experiences in anti-Communism, placing his evolving worldview in counterpoint with the aggressive tactics of the Kremlin. While Communist satellite governments were consolidating their hold on Eastern Europe, Reagan recorded fundraising appeals for what would become Radio Free Europe and helped build Democratic support for Dwight Eisenhower. While Communism was toppling dominoes in Southeast Asia, Governor Reagan was confronting student protesters at Berkeley. While Nixon and Kissinger were laying the groundwork for detente, Reagan was advocating a more confrontational strategy, and preparing for a run at the Presidency.

REAGAN'S WAR provides an in-depth analysis of Reagan's economic and political maneuvers that led to the downfall of the Soviet Union. Author Peter Schweizer describes how Reagan coupled his legendary ability to communicate with his principled leadership and his unwavering faith, and shows how these characteristics were essential in his efforts to roll back Communism. Although his critics constantly accused Reagan of being a warmonger, Schweizer shows that his greatest victories were not in the battlefield but at the conference table. The last chapter of the book summarizes the efforts to cause the economic collapse of the Soviet Empire, showing billions of dollars lost by the Soviet economy due to military spending, Western economic sanctions, and aid to Cuba and Eastern Europe.

Schweizer's conclusions are buttressed significantly by his research in newly opened secret archives. We learn, unsurprisingly, that the peace movement in West Germany was supported and controlled by the East German secret police. We hear the complaints of Soviet leadership that the Reagan Administration would not shift its policies for political advantage, and worries that Reagan's spread of "anti-Soviet ideas" would prove decisive. There is even a too-brief mention of a North Korean threat to assassinate Reagan during a visit to South Korea. Schweizer also adds the Soviet perspective of summit meetings in Geneva and Reykjavik, and details the effect of Reagan speeches on the Russian dissident community.

REAGAN'S WAR is a popular, rather than a scholarly treatment of its subject. There is less detail than some readers would like about particulars, such as Reagan's relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev, and the decision to pursue missile defense. The book's positive, aggressive defense of the Reagan record causes it to overlook some important issues. For example, the invasion of Grenada is presented without reference to the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, which immediately preceded it. The recounting of the arming of the Afghan resistance fails to take
into account the unintended consequences of that decision, which are still ongoing as of this writing.

However, the purpose of REAGAN'S WAR is not to criticize, but to celebrate a great victory and the great leader who is responsible for that victory. It accomplishes that purpose brilliantly, compiling Reagan's efforts against Communism into a unified whole, and further burnishing the Reagan legacy in the process. It is a valuable and important book for students of the era or students of leadership.

--- Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds ([e-mail]) writes movie reviews at http://www.txreviews.com/

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Summary: Inspiring and insightful
Review: Growing up in the Reagan Era, I already had an impression of him. Unfortunately I too sometimes viewed him as more fluff than substance. After reading Reagan's War I have a whole new respect for the man. His vision did indeed bring down the Berlin Wall and communism. He stared down the vaunted Soviets and beat them without causing a war. His toughness and sincerity come out in this book.

I recommend this to anyone who wants to see the real Ronald Reagan.

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Summary: Thank you, Mr. President...
Review: ...on behalf of all humanity, for saving us from ourselves. This great book explains how and why.

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Summary: File under fiction
Review: To call this book a 'history' book is joke - it is poorly written and researched. If the author was in one of my classes and passed this in as an example of 'history,' I would give him an F for fiction.

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Summary: How one man made the difference!
Review: This book is the story of how one man fought the Soviet Union for most of his adult life, entering politics to bring them down--and doing it! The documentation from the old Soviet and East Bloc Secret Police archives, as well as top secret directives of our OWN Government, recently declassified, lend a measure of veracity to the story that only the most determined Reagan-bashers could deny! HIGHLY recommended!

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Summary: Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty Year Struggle and
Review: This is an outstanding book with an impeccable bibliography. This book will leave no doubt in anyone's mind who won the cold war and why. I wish the Nobel committee would put aside their biases and give the Nobel Prize to a man who really did make the world a safer place.

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Summary: Reagan: A Man of Principle and Conviction
Review: I have to preface my comments about this incredible book by noting that my parent's escaped the tyranny of Eastern Europe in the late 60s (before I was born). My parent's gave me first-hand knowledge about the misery of life in Poland long before I had ever heard of Ronald Reagan. Specifically, they told me about the pervasive atmosphere of fear, the overt and covert police surveillance, and the shortages of virtually every consumer good except alcohol -- not to mention the government policy of discrimination and intimidation which was exercised against anyone who was not a member of the communist party. I thank God that I was born in the U.S. and able to enjoy our personal freedoms and cherish the many wonderful advantages denied to the children of my parent's Polish countrymen. Despite its many problems, the United States is the greatest country in the world and I'm embarrassed that we live in an era which seems to characterize a willingness to celebrate that greatness as politically incorrect.

Having offered these personal observations, I cannot say enough about this wonderful, eye-opening book. The author skillfully puts the events of Ronald Reagan's life into a detailed historical context. For example, in the chapter that examines communist infiltration of Hollywood, he explains how some of the individuals Mr. Reagan suspected of harboring hidden political agendas where in fact working for Moscow funded organizations! Later in the book the author showcases case after case of European "anti-nuclear" peace activist leaders who secretly served as East German "Stassi" agents. Throughout the entire book, the author draws a wealth of information from previously sealed KGB files. Though Mr. Reagan's detractors would love to deny him any credit for ending the Cold War, the many direct quotes taken from individuals who worked inside the Kremlin during the 80s, attests to the brilliance of the Reagan doctrine. In the end, the evidence is overwhelming and undeniable -- the Presidency of Ronald Reagan sealed the fate of the Soviet Union.

Perhaps the greatest aspect of this excellent book is that it recognizes President Reagan's unswerving adherence to principle from one decade to the next. He never gave up, or gave in. Frankly, the book offers well-deserved criticism of Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford and other Republican leaders who lacked the resolve to challenge the communist system. Until Reagan arrived, American foreign policy was willing to permanently write-off the millions of people suffering behind the iron curtain. This book crystallizes why history will celebrate Ronald Reagan as a leader of the very highest caliber, and one whose personal courage directly led to freedom and liberation for so many.

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Summary: One man made all the difference
Review: Peter Schweizer's book is perhaps the greatest untold story in the latter half of the 20th Century. Indeed, this book, and its predecessor, "Victory", make a compelling case that the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the wrong person.

The evils of Communism are not as well known as those of Naziism, but they were no less real. Few people thought it could be defeated without a devastating war, but there was one who felt it could be done: Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th President of the United States.

Furthermore, the proof is not in the comments of the policymakers on the American side, but the expert reserach that Schweizer has done from the archives of the former Communist governments. Indeed, these archives themselves show the fact that Reagan was the person the communists feared the most, and that his strategy, carried out by men like William Casey and Casper Weinberger, WORKED.

Indeed, the hidden stories are the most revealing, from the collaboration of some Democrats with the Russians in an effort to undercut Reagan's policies to Reagan's longstanding support for anti-ballistic missile technology (dating to the late 1960s).

This gripping historical work showed how, over four decades, one man made all the difference with the mere belief that America was not only cpaable of winning the Cold War without starting World War III, but the will to act on that belief.

"Reagan's War" tells that story.

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Summary: Powerful
Review: It's a pretty unusual book that sports praise from Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walesa and Caspar Weinberger on its dust jacket, but then Ronald Reagan was a pretty unusual man.

_Reagan's War_ isn't a biography. It starts with the adult Reagan already married to Jane Wyman and in Hollywood, beginning his "forty-year struggle" against communism, and it ends with the end of Reagan's Presidency. In between Schweizer recounts the tale of how Ronald Reagan -- often alone and against public opinion and advice -- won the Cold War.

_Reagan's War_ is an important reminder of many truths about the Cold War: that Soviet communism was aggressively imperialist, determined to rule the world; that the Soviets crushed their own citizens and mangled their own economy; that the Soviets were aided and abetted by many agents and useful idiots in the West; that a generation of American politicians allowed the Soviets to expand and dominate by constantly giving ground and putting faith in the mirage of detente; and that Reagan beat the Soviets, precisely by being a warmongering cowboy who would not accept compromise or defeat. Reagan challenged the Soviets on all fronts, supporting the Solidarity movement in Poland, broadcasting Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America into Soviet territory, arming and training insurgents fighting Soviet occupation, and most especially, by committing to an arms race that he knew the lumbering Soviet economy could not win.

_Reagan's War_ is well-written, often entertaining and sometimes quite moving. In addition to being important history, the tale of Reagan's war against communism is a great moral example of the difference that an individual can make and a powerful illustration of the force of freedom.

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Summary: Thank you Peter Schweizer
Review: Wow. It has taken some time, but Reagan's legacy is finally being written with some historical perspective. The man who helped nail the coffin shut on the USSR is finally getting his due. I've always wondered how the most hated man in America by some people's standards could win a 49 state landslide and once I read this review, I was reminded. It is a great book to explain the reality of the world to those who don't have the sack to stand up to aggression. Let those politicians who are luke warm about our current war read this book so they understand how far just wringing their hands will get them. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.

The book asks those people who think that Mr. Gorbachev was the architect of the fall of the USSR a very simple question. "Why did the cold war end on Reagan's terms and not Gorbachev's?" Makes you think. Overall, great book and required reading for history students.