Nancy Mitchell's Jimmy Carter in Africa makes so many important contributions to the field of U.S. foreign relations history that it is impossible to discuss them all in a single review. Based on mind-boggling research and written in prose equal to a first-rate novel, history books of this quality and significance appear only once every five years or so. Among the major topics addressed in new and revealing ways are the African diplomacy of Henry Kissinger, the relation between the 1976 presidential election and international affairs, the role of Andrew Young in the Carter administration, U.S. policy toward Rhodesia, U.S. policy toward the Horn of Africa, and the presidency of Jimmy Carter overall. Given the focus of the audience reading this journal, I will highlight just a few of the most important Cold War aspects of Mitchell's book.
Probably the greatest strength of this tome is the use of good...