Former governor of New Mexico and US Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson has engaged in high-stakes, face-to-face negotiations with Castro, Saddam, the Taliban, North Korea leaders, Slobodan Milosevic, and many other of the world's "crazy people" - and done it so well he's been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. Now he tells these stories - from Washington, DC to the Middle East to Pyongyang - in all their intense and sometimes absurd glory. Readers also get a fine lesson in the art of negotiation: How to prepare, how to size up your opponent, understanding the nature of power in a standoff, how to give up only what is necessary while getting what you want, and many other strategies Richardson has mastered through at-the-table experience.

Author Biography

Bill Richardson is a two-term governor of New Mexico, former US ambassador to the UN, and former secretary of the Department of Energy. He spent 15 years in Congress and has successfully won the release of hostages, American servicemen, and prisoners in North Korea, Iraq, Cuba, and Sudan. Kevin Bleyer was an Emmy Award-winning writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and author of Me the People: One Man's Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America.