Frank Costigliola.
FRANK COSTIGLIOLA: GEORGE KENNAN BIOGRAPHY
KENNAN: A LIFE BETWEEN WORLDS (2023)
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George Kennan (born 1904) was one of the most influential American diplomats of the twentieth century. After obtaining a degree in History at Princeon University he joined the United States Foreign Service. His first postings were to Genva and Hamburg. He was then selected for a graduate linguistic programme, which he undertook at the Univesity of Berlin. He would go on to develop a command of several languages including German, French, Polish, Czech, Portuguese and Norwegian. After a posting in Latvia he was transferred to Moscow, then to Prague and then in 1942 to Lisbon. In 1944 he was transferred to Moscow, at the request of US ambassador Averell Harriman. It was from Moscow that he wrote his famous ‘long telegram’ of 5,363 words, followed up by an anonymous article (under the pseudonym X) in Foreign Affairs journal. These argued that Soviet pressure for expansion had to ‘be contained by the adroit and vigilant application of ounterforce at a series of constantly shifting geographical and political points’. His arguments for containment shaped the Cold War.
Reviewing Costigliola’s biography of Kennan, the New Statesman wrote: "A compelling synthesis of Kennan as elitist, committed Russophile and Germanophile, ambivalent romantic, tortured soul, and policy sage." The Spectator wrote: "As diplomat, historian and public intellectual, George Kennan was arguably the most interesting American of his time. In this magnificent biography, Professor Costigliola presents the man in full: gifted, prophetic, prickly, prejudiced, patriotic, alienated from modernity and steadfast in his devotion to principle. A remarkable biography of a remarkable individual."
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Frank Costigliola is a Professor at the University of Connecticut whose research focuses on the foreign policy of the USA in the 20th century. The son of Italian immigrants, he had for economic reasons to drop out of school after the fith grade. He went on t obtain a PhD from Cornell University, then became an assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island. In 1998 he moved to the University of Connecut. While at the University of Rhode Island he built a homesread in 20 acres of woods, clearing land for milk cows. On the land he first built a yurt, then a house, a barn and outbuildings.
