The memoirs of most diplomats are usually greeted with a loud yawn by the reading public, and even those which enjoy a moderate success (e.g., Dean Acheson, George Kennan) are not what publishers consider blockbuster books. That, however, was hardly the case when former National Security Council chief and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger produced the first volume of his White House Years last fall. Despite its length (1,521 pages), despite its cost ($22.50), despite the fact that it only covers a 50-month period (from Kissinger's Security Council appointment in 1968 to the end of Nixon's first term in 1973), and despite its critics, Volume 1 quickly became Number 1 on the best seller lists. Still, for all its details and all its explanations, there were those who felt the former secretary was evasive over one issue, namely the Nixon administration's role in the destruction of Cambodia. That role had earlier been described in devastating terms by William Shawcross, a young British journalist whose book, Sideshow, appeared several months before the Kissinger tome. Both books are the subject of Michael Nelson's essay in the current issue. But the main purpose of Mr. Nelson's examination is to explain why the State Department declined so drastically in its prestige and power during the years from Kennedy through Kissinger. A political scientist with a special interest in the workings of the federal bureaucracy, Mr. Nelson received his B. A. degree from the College of William and Mary and his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.

If economics is the "dismal science," economists are, as Richard Selden documents, abysmal prognosticators. Undaunted and unbowed, however, Mr. Selden looks not only back to the 70's but also forward to see what lies ahead for us economically in the 80's. Mr. Selden holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago. He began his teaching career at the University of Massachusetts and has since served on the faculties of Vanderbilt, Columbia, Cornell, and the University of Virginia, where he is currently the Carter Glass Professor of Economics and former department chairman.