A stunningly shallow and vapid memoir from a man whose lengthy
stint as a midlevel official with various federal agencies
coincided with the Cold War's beginning and end. For briefly stated
reasons that don't ring true, Nuechterlein presents his own story
as that of David Bruening and tells it in the third person, using
fictitious names for most of the people he dealt with in the course
of what appears to have been an uncommonly interesting professional
life. Unfortunately, it's difficult to gauge the extent of the
author's engagement or excitement because he writes with all the
panache of a metronome. By way of example, accounts of his father's
birthday observances are accorded the same matter-of-fact detail as
momentous global events with which Nuechterlein is personally
familiar. In once-over-lightly fashion, he recalls a career that
began in 1946 with an editorial post at the official organ of the
US Military Government in occupied Germany. He subsequently worked
for the USIA in Iceland and Thailand and for the Pentagon during
the Vietnam War. Burned out from 12-hour days by 1968, he accepted
a professorship in international relations at the University of
Virginia's Federal Executive Institute (which provides advanced
training for senior civil servants). Retiring at 63 in 1988, he
continues to work as a visiting professor and foreign-policy
expert. But no particular insight that he might have gained is
evident here. His deadly earnest statements range from the
pronouncement (on William Casey) that "it's dangerous to have a CIA
director who's so powerful he can cut out the State and Defense
departments from operations" through the empty assurance that a
tour of Mauthausen (a Nazi concentration camp) "was an emotional
experience as well as an educational one." Dispensable
reminiscences from a low-level cold warrior unable to convey any
real sense of what it meant or felt like to live in challenging
times. (Kirkus Reviews)
The Cold War -- that long ideological conflict between the
world's two superpowers -- had a profound effect not only on
nations but on individuals, especially all those involved in
setting and implementing the policies that shaped the struggle.
Donald Nuechterlein was one such individual and this is his
story.
Although based in fact, the narrative reads like fiction, and it
takes the reader behind the scenes as no purely factual telling of
that complex story can. Presented as the story of David and Helen
Bruening and their family, A Cold War Odyssey carries us across
three continents. Against a backdrop of national and international
events, we follow the Bruenings through five decades as David's
governmental and academic assignments take them to all corners of
the world.
In the tradition of Herman Wouk's Winds of War, the Bruenings'
personal and professional odyssey offers us a microcosm of world
history in the second half of the twentieth century. Through the
acute eyes of these participant observers, we see the partitioning
of Europe after World War II, Korea and Vietnam, Watergate and
Iran, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany,
the collapse of the Soviet Union and, with it, the end of the Cold
War. With each succeeding episode, our understanding of the causes
and consequences of international struggle is deepened through the
Bruenings' experience.
General
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