N. F. Chervov was a Soviet General and arms negotiator. He begins by recalling the Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions, which he says were mainly designed to intimidate the USSR. With some distaste he recounts U.S. war plans that called for targeting Soviet cities and points to the termination of the American nuclear monopoly as a fortunate event for all of humanity. He completely discounts the notion that the U.S. saw its monopoly as countering the Soviets conventional superiority. He remembers his pride in the Soviets development of a nuclear weapon and discusses their strategic priorities at the time. He talks about the change in strategies after the death of Stalin, then explains his views of the missile gap at the end of the decade. After some general comments about negotiating with different American administrations, he offers a portrait of Robert McNamara, calling him the best defense secretary of the period, then recounting aspects of his tenure at the Pentagon. He ends with a denial that Moscow ever contemplated the preemptive use of nuclear weapons.
