Little known outside a small community of insiders, the United Nations Association-USA has had an impact on both the UN and the US-UN relationship far greater than its size would suggest. James Wurst explores that impact as he traces the sometimes tortuous history of the UNA-USA from its earliest days to the present.

Beginning with efforts in support of the creation of the United Nations-and covering the decades-long campaign to promote the UN to the US public, the role of Eleanor Roosevelt, the decline of popular support, Track II diplomacy with Iran and the Soviet Union, and much more-Wurst draws on a wealth of archival material and personal interviews to tell an honest, and long overdue, story of the UNA-USA's persistence, problems, and achievements.