With a foreword by Henry A. Kissinger. A one-volume joint documentary publication presenting the formerly secret record of how the United States and Soviet Union moved from Cold War to detente during 1969-1972. Published side-by side are U.S. and Soviet accounts of meetings between Henry Kissinger and Soviet Ambassador Anatoliy Dobrynin, the so-called Kissinger-Dobrynin confidential channel, related documents, and the full Soviet and U.S. record of the first Moscow Summit between President Richard Nixon and Soviet Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev. The Soviet documents are being released in the volume for the first time anywhere.

Since the early 1950s, there has been agreement in the US concerning the desirability of improving relations with the Soviet Union. Policymakers have often disagreed, however, about how to implement policy and this book looks at the policy of individual administrations.