This intimate narrative takes the reader behind the scenes into the chambers of Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzchak Rabin and Menachem Begin, on whose personal staffs the author served. Based largely on personal notes, as well as on actual transcripts and correspondence, some of which are revealed here for the first time, the narrative reenacts how each of the leaders responded under conditions of acute stress - be it terror or war - and how their respective relationships unfolded with Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter.