

Allen Pietrobon
As the editor of the Saturday Review for more than thirty years, Norman Cousins had a powerful platform from which to help shape American public debate during the height of the Cold War. Under Cousins's leadership, the magazine was considered one of the most influential in the literary world. Cousins's progressive, nonpartisan editorials in the Review earned him the respect of the public and US government officials. But his deep impact on postwar international humanitarian aid, anti-nuclear advocacy, and Cold War diplomacy has been largely unexplored.
In this book, Allen Pietrobon presents the...
As the editor of the Saturday Review for more than thirty years, Norman Cousins had a powerful platform from which to help shape American public debate during the height of the Cold War. Under Cousins's leadership, the magazine was considered one of the most influential in the literary world. Cousins's progressive, nonpartisan editorials in the Review earned him the respect of the public and US government officials. But his deep impact on postwar international humanitarian aid, anti-nuclear advocacy, and Cold War diplomacy has been largely unexplored.
In this book, Allen Pietrobon presents the first true biography of Norman Cousins. Cousins was much more important than we realize: he was involved in several secret citizen diplomacy missions during the height of the Cold War and, acting as a private citizen, played a major role in getting the Limited Test Ban Treaty signed. He also wrote JFK's famous 1963 American University commencement speech ("not merely peace in our time but peace for all time").
This book is a fascinating look at the outsized impact that one individual had on the course of American public debate, international humanitarianism, and the Cold War itself. This biography of the vocal anti-communist and anti-nuclear activist's public life will interest readers across the ideological spectrum.
This eye-opening biography is a primer for the lost art of gentle statecraft.
Bringing to light the wide array of efforts Norman Cousins undertook on behalf of political and social causes, Pietrobon convincingly argues that Cousins made key contributions to several important Cold War social movements and diplomatic endeavors.
Pietrobon shines light on the extraordinary life of Norman Cousins, an activist, journalist, philosopher, and private citizen who, over the course of nearly five decades, conducted quiet 'citizen' diplomacy when political elites were unable or unwilling to engage on difficult issues. This well-written, compelling book, the first scholarly rendering of Cousins's life, is both original and substantial.
Allen Pietrobon's Norman Cousins is one of the long-awaited books of our time. In his close relationships with John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, Lyndon Johnson, and scores of other powerbrokers, Cousins proved to be a moral force for global good. This is a brilliantly researched and marvelously written study of a dove extraordinaire. Highly recommended!
Allen Pietrobon has written a masterful account of Norman Cousins, whose remarkable life intersected with so many vital flashpoints in the American century. In this outstanding blend of historical research and vivid prose, Pietrobon brings alive Cousins's poignant odyssey as a man of peace in a world beset by war.
As a lifelong admirer of Norman Cousins, I relished Pietrobon's fascinating account of the globe-trotting peace activist, who worked tirelessly to prevent nuclear war and bring humanitarian aid to war-torn people. This gripping, exciting, and deeply researched work highlights the impact one remarkable man had on Cold War diplomacy.
Prologue
Introduction
Chapter 1. Educator for an Atomic Age
Chapter 2. The Formation of a Vision
Chapter 3. World War II
Chapter 4. An Anti-Nuclear Crusade
Chapter 5. 1946: A New Year in the Atomic Age
Chapt
Prologue
Introduction
Chapter 1. Educator for an Atomic Age
Chapter 2. The Formation of a Vision
Chapter 3. World War II
Chapter 4. An Anti-Nuclear Crusade
Chapter 5. 1946: A New Year in the Atomic Age
Chapter 6. Witness to a Catastrophe
Chapter 7. An Educational Field Trip to Germany
Chapter 8. From Editor's Desk to World Stage
Chapter 9. In Search of Peace, Cousins Rallies for War
Chapter 10. Candidate of the Intellectuals: Adlai Stevenson, 1952
Chapter 11. From Advocate to Diplomat
Chapter 12. Eisenhower's New Look
Chapter 13. A New Project
Chapter 14. The Hiroshima Maidens
Chapter 15. The Anti-Nuclear Agenda
Chapter 16. 1956: The Anti-Nuclear Election Campaign
Chapter 17. SANE and the Anti-Testing Campaign
Chapter 18. The Ravensbrück Lapins and the Communist Connection
Chapter 19. A Cultural Exchange of His Own
Chapter 20. The Dawn of the Kennedy Administration
Chapter 21. Flashpoints: Berlin and the Congo
Chapter 22. Cousins, the Vatican, and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Chapter 23. The Crisis Abates but Contacts Continue
Chapter 24. The Breakthrough to the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Chapter 25. A Sojourn with Khrushchev
Chapter 26. The Fight to Ratify
Chapter 27. 1964: Near Death and Rebirth
Chapter 28. Crusade against Dirty Air
Chapter 29. Days of Apprehension and Confusion
Chapter 30. The "Humphrey Mission"
Chapter 31. The Scramble to Prevent a Bombing
Chapter 32. Campaigning against (and during) a War
Chapter 33. The Biafran War
Chapter 34. The Saturday Review's Final Crisis
Chapter 35. The Third Act
Conclusion
Notes
Index
with Hopkins Press Books