The son of a Baltimore firefighter and the first person in his family to go to college, with scholarships to Yale University and Yale Law School, John R. Bolton candidly recounts his seventeen-month tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

A veteran of three Republican administrations and a nominee for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, John Bolton reveals how the U.S. can lead the way to a more realistic global security arrangement for the twenty-first century and identifies the next generation of threats to America.

With no-holds-barred candor, he recounts his appointment in 2005 as Ambassador to the United Nations, his headline-making Senate confirmation battle, and his tenure at the United Nations. Bolton offers keen insight into such international crises as North Korea's nuclear test, Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and much more. Recounting both his successes and frustrations he also exposes the operational inadequacies that hinder the U.N.'s effectiveness in international diplomacy and its bias against Israel and the United States. At home, he criticizes the pernicious bureaucratic inertia in the U.S. State Department that can undermine presidential policy.

A fascinating chronicle of the career of a distinguished lawyer and diplomat, Surrender Is Not An Option is sure to become a staple for everyone interested in international affairs.