Tapping into a wealth of recently declassified documents and tapes, Robert Dallek uncovers fascinating details about Nixon and Kissinger's tumultuous personal relationship – their collaboration and rivalry – and the extent to which they struggled to outdo each other in the reach for foreign policy achievements. He also brilliantly analyses their dealings with power brokers at home and abroad – including the nightmare of Vietnam, the brilliant opening to China, detente with the Soviet Union, the disastrous overthrow of Allende in Chile, and growing tensions between India and Pakistan – while recognizing how both men were continually plotting to distract the American public's attention from the growing scandal of Watergate.