Diplomacy conveys the history of international relations from the 1600s to the 1990s. Concepts of Reason d'etat, Realpolitik, Containment and the reasoning of nations' behaviour with one another are introduced and their implementations are clearly illustrated.Historical lessons are provided from French Expansion, German unification, the World Wars, and the Cold War. The American policies of the 20th Century are the focus of this book. The personalities involved are very detailed I enjoyed the sharing of Dr. Kissinger's personal stories with the likes of Truman, Nixon, Ford and Reagan.I did however notice the basic omission of Jimmy Carter's term and Carter's work towards peace between Israel and Egypt. Some may be disappointed because this book only covers up the the early 1990s(written in 1994) but other books like Huntington's "Clash of the Civilizations" should fill that gap.