I don't think it's particularly relevant what your science book of the 60's says. Of course controlling fusion is a hard problem. Nobody said it was going to be easy, or if they did, they were a fool. But there's no reason to think we won't get there eventually. It might not be in my lifetime, but so what? I'm not trying to be that myopic here.
I'm reminded of something I read, I think it was in Engines of Creation[1] where the author made the following point about technological advancement (possibly paraphrased slightly due to faulty memory): "If a technological advancement isn't fundamentally impossible under the laws of physics, then the only question is when it will happen, not if it will happen."
Fusion has been a couple of decades along for decades. It's pretty much always been 20 years away. I do think it's a bit of a pipe dream. We need it now if it's to be of any use for us. If it takes us nearly another century to get there (that's how long we've been working at it), it's far too late to be of any sort of help.
