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The Past Has Another Pattern: Memoirs (1982)
Front Cover Book Details
Genre Biography; Non-Fiction
Subject Ball, George W.; Statesmen - United States - Biography; United States - Foreign relations - 1933-1945; United States - Foreign relations - 1945-1989
Publication Date 9/29/1982
Format Hardcover (9.4 mm)
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Extras Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover
Personal Details
Store Alibris
Purchase Price $13.12
Acquire Date 11/25/2016
Condition Very Good/Good
Rating 0
Links Library of Congress
Product Details
LoC Classification E840.8.B32 .A36 1982
Dewey 973.9
ISBN 9780393014815
Edition [1st ed.]
No. of Pages 527
First Edition Yes
Rare No
Notes/Review
George Ball was a contemporary and colleague of many of the big names in our Cold War history - Stevenson, Acheson, Rusk, McNamara. These names are still known. No longer household names, to be sure, but not yet obscure historical figures. Ball certainly deserves mention along with those other names.

He worked on bomb damage survey crews in Europe after D-Day and was one of the first to interrogate Albert Speer. After the war, he worked with Jean Monnet in building European common market, supervised airdrops that saved hostages in the Congo, was a member of JFK's ExCom during the Cuban Missile Crisis, was Undersecretary of State under JFK and LBJ.

The most compelling part of his memoirs is the sixty or so pages on the Vietnam War. Ball was an early critic, a lone voice of caution in the Johnson administration. This is not a rehash of the Pentagon Papers nor does it include any military history. It's an analysis of the diplomatic and political factors, the failure to learn from recent history, the application of logical errors, and a general critique of how LBJ was advised by his cabinet. Ball is unforgiving in his criticism of Nixon and Kissinger.

The last chapter is an attempt to look into the near future. He's a bit of a curmudgeon by this point, railing on the coarsening of society ("nobody can name a modern poet anymore") but in spite of his being away from the levers of power for some time was still full of insight into America's challenges in the 1980's. Predicting the future is hard; Ball doesn't really try in this final chapter, but does point out areas of coming difficulty: impending changes in the Soviet Union, the effect of high oil prices, looming immigration issues, nuclear proliferation, even centrifugal forces threatening a unified Europe.

The writing is as solid as the story he tells. A good book isn't just the plot; it's the writing, too. Ball's plot is fascinating, and the writing is generally on a high level. As an undergraduate he studied literature before going for his law degree.