Tom Wells, "The Kissinger Tapes: Inside His Secretly Recorded Phone Conversations" (Oxford UP, 2026)

Mar 26, 2026

Tom Wells, historian and author of The Kissinger Tapes, reveals how he assembled and edited secretly recorded Kissinger phone transcripts. He walks through the selection challenges and the tapes’ portraits of Kissinger’s character, his relationship with Nixon, and the secrecy culture that shaped Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan, and Watergate. Short, revealing stories and archival detective work drive the conversation.

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INSIGHT

Callous Attitude Toward Civilian Casualties

The transcripts expose Kissinger's callousness toward civilian casualties in Vietnam.
Wells cites conversations where Kissinger casually discusses dead bodies and bombing outcomes with apparent gratification.

INSIGHT

Shared Obsession With Secrecy

Nixon and Kissinger shared intense secrecy and leak paranoia from early on.
Wells notes they operated within a small circle, repeatedly discussing leaks and restricting knowledge to a tight group.

INSIGHT

Watergate Rooted in Political Intelligence

Watergate was driven more by Nixon's desire for political intelligence than mere secrecy.
Wells argues Nixon sought extensive intelligence on political enemies, while Kissinger shared concerns but not Nixon's intensity.

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A richly detailed collection of transcripts of Henry Kissinger's secretly recorded phone conversations from his time in the Nixon administration that touch on every important issue of Kissinger's day and provide a sweeping view of his era.
Henry Kissinger is unquestionably one of the most consequential foreign policy makers in American history. A remarkably influential academic during his long tenure at Harvard, Kissinger became Richard Nixon's National Security Advisor in 1969 and Secretary of State in 1973.
Like Nixon, Kissinger left a trail of secretly recorded evidence in his wake. Kissinger began taping in 1969, two years before Nixon did in 1971, and he continued taping for over three years after Nixon's recording system was dismantled in 1973. In The Kissinger Tapes: Inside His Secretly Recorded Phone Conversations" (Oxford UP, 2026), Tom Wells draws on his expertise in the Nixon era to provide carefully selected, edited, and annotated transcripts of Kissinger's phone conversations, which chronologically highlight the most momentous crises and controversies of the era. They not only provide context and many revelations on Kissinger's role in numerous events but also throw his personality, character, and checkered record into sharp relief.
The conversations cover a wide range of issues, including the Vietnam War, the India-Pakistan conflict, the opening to China, the Middle East, the Greek coup in Cyprus, the Nixon administration's illegal wiretapping, and the Watergate scandal. The transcripts reveal Kissinger's opinions and attitudes on important policy matters and his complex relationship with President Nixon, as well as the many battles he fought with other administration officials and his subtle manipulations of well-known journalists.
A richly detailed collection of Kissinger's transcripts and commentary, this book provides a novel window into the Nixon administration and offers a genuinely unique perspective on one of the most important figures in modern American history.

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