George F. Kennan (1904-2005) was America’s most respected foreign policy thinker of the 20th century, a man who advised presidents, raised alarms about the Soviet Union’s intentions, and outlined the policy of “containment” that guided U.S. strategy during the Cold War.

Through most of his life, Kennan kept journals that covered a staggering 88 years in more than 8,000 pages. Historian Frank Costigliola has edited them into a more reader-friendly volume, The Kennan Diaries, and will examine this trove of ideas, anecdotes, and essays in a discussion at the Central Library.

Costigliola is professor of history at the University of Connecticut.