Two anti-communists. Clandestine visit -- "It's time to stroke Ronnie" -- Two schools of thought -- Evil empire -- Nixon detects Gorbachev's "steel fist" -- Abolition -- Conservative uproar -- The conversation -- Reversal of roles -- Informal adviser. A new friend -- Banned from the land of the firebird -- War scare -- Improbable emissary -- Hunger for religion -- An arrest and its consequences -- Keep her away -- Carlucci's notes -- Berlin. The speech -- Twenty-fifth anniversary -- Day visit of a presidential candidate -- "He blew it" -- Anti-Soviet jokes -- The orator and his writers -- One night free in West Berlin -- Competing drafts -- Warsaw pact -- "I think we'll leave it in" -- Rock concert -- Venetian villa -- Brandenburg Gate -- Why not "Mr. Honecker"? -- On his own -- Summits. "Quit pressing" -- An arms deal and its opponents -- Shultz's pitch -- The grand tour rejected -- Of Dan Quayle and Errol Flynn -- Gorbachev in Washington -- Making a treaty look easy -- The not-so-evil empire -- Bush v. Reagan -- The wall will stand for "100 years."