Rating: 
Summary: The definitive account of the end of the Cold War
Review: A vital part of understanding the end of the Cold War. The book is at its most vivid and engaging during it's description of the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the unification of Germany and the Gulf War. Bush and Scowcroft tag team throughout the book and complement each other well. Bush's knack for incorporating anecdotes and his personal relationships with other world leaders serves him well here. However, the book is lacking in some areas, and I couldn't quite bring myself to give it 5 stars. While billed as a major part of the book, the section on the Tianamen Square uprising in China was not particularly detailed or illuminating. The book could have benefited from Bush and Scowcroft's perspective on the Panama Invasion, Somalia, and especially on the crucial decisions on US policy towards the breakup of Yugoslavia, which began on Bush's watch. Still, this is an amazing book and it was easy to feel swept up in events that many did not believe we would see happen in our lifetime, myself included. On par with the great books of international relations such as Kissinger's "A World Restored" and Acheson's "Present at the Creation."
Rating:
Summary: The definitive account of the end of the Cold War
Review: A vital part of understanding the end of the Cold War. The book is at its most vivid and engaging during it's description of the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the unification of Germany and the Gulf War. Bush and Scowcroft tag team throughout the book and complement each other well. Bush's knack for incorporating anecdotes and his personal relationships with other world leaders serves him well here. However, the book is lacking in some areas, and I couldn't quite bring myself to give it 5 stars. While billed as a major part of the book, the section on the Tianamen Square uprising in China was not particularly detailed or illuminating. The book could have benefited from Bush and Scowcroft's perspective on the Panama Invasion, Somalia, and especially on the crucial decisions on US policy towards the breakup of Yugoslavia, which began on Bush's watch. Still, this is an amazing book and it was easy to feel swept up in events that many did not believe we would see happen in our lifetime, myself included. On par with the great books of international relations such as Kissinger's "A World Restored" and Acheson's "Present at the Creation."
Rating: 
Summary: Essential Foreign Affairs work
Review: Although they left office only six years ago, it seems the world they describe is nothing like the one today. The collapse of communism, the Gulf War, and the crackdown in China seem so far removed from the current Balkan battles and Asian/Russian economic woes. The book is much more than a "kiss and tell" biography of the life and times of two during the Cold War. Bush and Scowcroft wisely limited their discussion to only a few matters and that allowed them to cover in more depth these important events than so many "What I Did in the White House" books that are on the market. Still, the hard core foreign affairs scholar may be seeking much more, but I think this is an important read for anyone wanting to know "how it was" at the end of the Cold War. The book provides insight into these decisions that I found refreshing to read. It showed the personal nature that is important to diplomacy, and it spoke a great deal about trust. I don't want to sound too political because this is going to be the best history of one of the most important times since the end of World War II, but as you read about the negotiations and "first name" diplomacy practiced with incredible skill and character, you won't want to put down this book and read the newspapers because you'll just feel depressed about the current state of the Presidency. As a friend of mine said, who hasn't yet finished the book, "It makes you long for the days when adults were in the White House."
Rating:
Summary: At Least He Could Define What "Is" Is
Review: Columnist Eric Alterman of "The Nation" recently and sneeringly labeled former President George Bush a "do nothing patrician." Alterman and others who believe that might or might not change their views if they read "A World Transformed," an excellent history of an administration that squarely faced and carefully guided this country through one of the most difficult and tremendous events in history--the ending of the Cold War on the West's terms, with all of the broad social, philosophical and political ramifications that it implied. But they would be wise to open this book. They might learn something. Bush and former administration national security adviser Brent Scowcroft commmunicate in a easygoing, thoughtful but dignified and decisive manner, about everything from Mikhail Gorbachev to Desert Storm to the economy, an approach that has practically disappeared amid the spectacle of a White House now dominated by a politically correct spoils system, perpetual poll-driven indecision and celebrity-obsessed pandering. Bush and Scowcroft freely admit their shortcomings and mistakes without rationalization, rancor or excuse and their work should, if nothing else, reaffirm the truth of Bush Labor Secretary Lynn Martin's 1992 campaign statement, "You can't be one kind of man and another kind of President." Reading this book has really awakened me to how dangerously high a price we are now paying for not heeding those words.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed and Thrilling Account of Historic Change
Review: George Bush and Brent Scowcroft have written a great book about a fascinating subject. This is very engaging and at times is very much a page turner. I was left thinking that a more detailed account of history being made by the movers themselves may not exist. The end of the Cold War is a great story in and of itself, but also a story that could have had a very different ending were it not for the team that managed to bring it to a successful close. This is a very honest book by honest men. Evenly though successful on all of the big issues, they write of miscues, uncertainty and difficulties in reaching the "right" decision. It is not a self-praise tome, but a book that is not afraid to lay out an accurate rendering of the facts and atmosphere. The reader has enough information and background to put himself in the role of President and ask, "What would I have done in that siguation." It's the mark of a thorough book. One can not help but come away impressed by the Bush foreign policy apparatus and the President's own grasp of events, the players and the vital interests of the United States. He, aided by one of the best foreign policy / national security teams ever assembled, played America's hand superbly. After reading this book, anyone who still believes that any President's main responsibility is "the economy, stupid" is.....well, stupid.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed and Thrilling Account of Historic Change
Review: George Bush and Brent Scowcroft have written a great book about a fascinating subject. This is very engaging and at times is very much a page turner. I was left thinking that a more detailed account of history being made by the movers themselves may not exist. The end of the Cold War is a great story in and of itself, but also a story that could have had a very different ending were it not for the team that managed to bring it to a successful close. This is a very honest book by honest men. Evenly though successful on all of the big issues, they write of miscues, uncertainty and difficulties in reaching the "right" decision. It is not a self-praise tome, but a book that is not afraid to lay out an accurate rendering of the facts and atmosphere. The reader has enough information and background to put himself in the role of President and ask, "What would I have done in that siguation." It's the mark of a thorough book. One can not help but come away impressed by the Bush foreign policy apparatus and the President's own grasp of events, the players and the vital interests of the United States. He, aided by one of the best foreign policy / national security teams ever assembled, played America's hand superbly. After reading this book, anyone who still believes that any President's main responsibility is "the economy, stupid" is.....well, stupid.
Rating:
Summary: Bush Does Well
Review: I read the book with amazement. I thought it both profound in the efforts to grapple with the end of the Cold War and the lengths that were taken to deal with international crisises. I don't care about the prose or style - it was wonderful to get my hands on a book that gave me a more concrete insights and level headed practicality in foreign policy rahter than that foreign policy in more recent times. Brent Scowcroft and Georege H. W. Bush lead the world through interesting and troubled times and helped us establish the United States as the preminent global power. It's a good read if you are interested in the shaping of foreign policy at the very top.
Rating: 
Summary: Jumpy...skip to better alternatives
Review: I tried to force down "A World Transformed" after reading George H. W. Bush's outstanding letter- and note-based memoir "All the Best." As much as I wanted to like it, I just couldn't trudge through the entire thing. Mostly, it's the format that's at fault. You get Bush's pieces & Scowcroft's pieces interspersed with a 3rd-party disembodied voice attmepting to tie the segments together. I can appreciate that Gen. Scowcroft was a major player and needs his own voice here. But the resulting patchquilt of a book makes it tough on the reader to develop any semblance of continuity. The other thing is that 'All the Best' introduced you to this charming, delightful, all-too-human side of our 41st President, the charasmatic guy who shows you - through his dedicated letter-writing and human touch - how to build and sustain life-long friendships. I wanted that guy to star in this book. Instead, the guy that wrote "A World Transformed" is a caricature of the tone-deaf (to the US Economy) internationalist we voted out of office in 1992. A better route than "A World Transformed" would be to pair "All the Best" with David Halberstam's "War in a Time of Peace."
Rating:
Summary: Jumpy...skip to better alternatives
Review: I tried to force down "A World Transformed" after reading George H. W. Bush's outstanding letter- and note-based memoir "All the Best." As much as I wanted to like it, I just couldn't trudge through the entire thing. Mostly, it's the format that's at fault. You get Bush's pieces & Scowcroft's pieces interspersed with a 3rd-party disembodied voice attmepting to tie the segments together. I can appreciate that Gen. Scowcroft was a major player and needs his own voice here. But the resulting patchquilt of a book makes it tough on the reader to develop any semblance of continuity. The other thing is that 'All the Best' introduced you to this charming, delightful, all-too-human side of our 41st President, the charasmatic guy who shows you - through his dedicated letter-writing and human touch - how to build and sustain life-long friendships. I wanted that guy to star in this book. Instead, the guy that wrote "A World Transformed" is a caricature of the tone-deaf (to the US Economy) internationalist we voted out of office in 1992. A better route than "A World Transformed" would be to pair "All the Best" with David Halberstam's "War in a Time of Peace."
Rating:
Summary: Readable and attention grabbing
Review: President Bush and General Scowcroft give you a sense of the "figure it out as we go" excitement surrounding the events covered in the text: Russia, China, the Persian Gulf and Berlin. The Bush diary entries are heartfelt and moving adding a most personal dimension to the historical text. The interplay between President Bush's and General Scowcroft's entries also keeps the book very, very readable. The format makes the history come alive. Lastly, President Bush's humor comes through the page and adds a human touch to the activities of the principles. As important as were these events in our country's history, the principles working the issues were "regular" people serving the country as best they possibly could.
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