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, presents edited transcripts of Henry Kissinger’s secretly recorded phone calls. He walks through selecting revealing conversations. He highlights topics from Vietnam and Cambodia to China, Pakistan, Watergate, wiretaps, and Kissinger’s political maneuvering. Short, revealing snapshots that illuminate Kissinger’s tactics and era.

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INSIGHT

Callousness Toward Civilian Casualties

Transcripts show Kissinger and Nixon displayed callous attitudes toward civilian casualties in Vietnam.
Wells highlights discussions where they took gratification in body counts after bombing strikes.

INSIGHT

Public Deference Paired With Private Criticism

Kissinger was deferential to Nixon in person but critical behind his back.
On calls he always said 'Mr. President' and restrained responses, yet privately mocked or complained about Nixon's behavior.

INSIGHT

Secrecy As Central Operational Principle

Nixon and Kissinger shared an obsession with secrecy and leak prevention from the presidency's start.
The tapes repeatedly show discussions about limiting knowledge to a small circle to avoid leaks.

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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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