and the reason that the bombing was done in '73 when it wasn't done previously was that both the chinese and the russians wanted things from the united states, and kissinger was confident that they would not intervene if we bombed. what the chinese wanted at that point was protection against the threat that the russians would bomb their nascent nuclear program. the chinese were just developing their nuclear program, and there was -- the russians were rumored to want to put a stop to it. but the russians wanted at that point primarily american wheat, which we supplied in large quantities and which they had desperate need of. now, by the time of the ultimate collapse in '75, both those conditions had disappeared. but there was this rather narrow window of opportunity when we could bomb with impunity and

blockade with impunity. >> so negroponte -- [inaudible] >> thousand we're friends with vietnam -- now we're friends with vietnam, but there's no question that the development of the country is well behind those of the other southeast asian countries as a result of 20 years of communism. yeah. >> thanks. >> thank you. thank you, everyone, for coming. we have copies of "the last american diplomat" for sale at the table, and mr. liebmann had been happy to sign your book up at the table here. thank you. >> thank you. [applause] >> interested in american history? watch american history television on c-span3 every weekend. 48 hours of people and event bs that help document the american story. visit c-span.org/history for more information. >> book tv is on location in new york city at the publishers'

annual trade show called bookexpo america, and one of the things we like to do is talk to the publishers about some of the books they have coming out in the fall. cynthia sherry is the publisher of a group called chicago review press. tell us, first of all, about chicago review press, cynthia. >> guest: we're an independent publisher who's been publishing for about 40 years. we celebrated our anniversary last year in the fall, so we've been in business since 1972, and we published an eclectic range of nonfiction titles. >> host: i want to ask you about this one, "reporting under fire." >> yeah, this is part of our women in action series, and it looks at women and young girls of courage and conviction throughout the ages around the world. and this book is looking at four journalists, female journalists. and throughout all the different wars, you know, going back to world war i and all the way up to today. >> host: who is carrie logan

holihan? >> guest: she's one of our authors who is published other books for us. >> host: lizzie stark, pandora's dna. >> guest: yeah. it looks at the history of the breast cancer gene, and the author, lizzie stark, had a double mastectomy, the sort of surgery angelina jolie had. all the females in her family have had breast cancer or lost their breasts to the disease. so she's looked at the science and the genetics who had a patent on the gene up until the supreme court overturned that patent, this is a gene that's in all of us, and so it also looks at the history of the surgeries, of breast cancer surgeries, and she uses her family as a sort of backdrop to tell the science and the story of the gene. >> host: another book that chicago review press has coming

out in the fall, mini weapons, part four? >> guest: yeah, this is the fourth book in the series. these are really fun projects that you can do with things that are in your junk drawer. and this particular cover here, this is all ninja ones. and, you know, you're using things like q tips and pens and paper clips and making these fun little implements. >> host: john picknell. >> guest: yeah. this book, america 1844, this was a real momentum year in american history, and this was the year when the presidential election between polk and henry clay really, like, set the stage for, you know, because polk had won with, we headed out to the west, we annexed texas, so you have the annexation of texas and the sort of westward expansion there was also a lot of religious fervor at the time. you had people who thought the world was going to end. it was a crazy year in american

history. >> host: cynthia sherry, how would you describe the publishing world today business wise? >> guest: oh, i think it's really exciting right now because there's so many new developments in terms of e-books and electronic media and just the way we're producing and distributing books and all the new opportunities. so i think it's a pretty exciting time in publishing right now. i'm enjoying it. >> host: this is booktv at bookexpo america. >> up next on booktv, david cross recounts his road trip to all of the presidential libraries. he speaks from the franklin d. roosevelt presidential library and museum in hyde park, new york, which is home to the annual roosevelt reading festival. this is about 40 minutes. [inaudible conversations]