The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War offers a broad reassessment of the period war based on new conceptual frameworks developed in the field of international history. Nearing the 25th anniversary of its end, the cold war now emerges as a distinct period in twentieth-century history, yet one which should be evaluated within the broader context of global political, economic, social, and cultural developments. The editors have brought together leading scholars in cold war history to offer a new assessment of the state of the field and identify fundamental questions for future research. The individual chapters in this volume evaluate both the extent and the limits of the cold war's reach in world history. They call into question orthodox ways of ordering the chronology of the cold war and also present new insights into the global dimension of the conflict. Even though each essay offers a unique perspective, together they show the interconnectedness between cold war and national and transnational developments, including long-standing conflicts that preceded the cold war and persisted after its end, or global transformations in areas such as human rights or economic and cultural globalization. Because of its broad mandate, the volume is structured not along conventional chronological lines, but thematically, offering essays on conceptual frameworks, regional perspectives, cold war instruments and cold war challenges. The result is a rich and diverse accounting of the ways in which the cold war should be positioned within the broader context of world history.

This edited volume examines the complexities of the Cold War in Southern Africa and uses a range of archives to develop a more detailed understanding of the impact of the Cold War environment upon the processes of political change. In the aftermath of European decolonization, the struggle between white minority governments and black liberation movements encouraged both sides to appeal for external support from the two superpower blocs. Cold War in Southern Africa highlights the importance of the global ideological environment on the perceptions and consequent behaviour of the white minority regimes, the Black Nationalist movements, and the newly independent African nationalist governments. Together, they underline the variety of archival sources on the history of Southern Africa in the Cold War and its growing importance in Cold War Studies. This volume brings together a series of essays by leading scholars based on a wide range of sources in the United States, Russia, Cuba, Britain, Zambia and South Africa. By focussing on a range of independent actors, these essays highlight the complexity of the conflict in Southern Africa: a battle of power blocs, of systems and ideas, which intersected with notions and practices of race and class This book will appeal to students of cold war studies, US foreign policy, African politics and International History. Sue Onslow has taught at the London School of Economics since 1994. She is currently a Cold War Studies Fellow in the Cold War Studies Centre/IDEAS

The contributors not only study state breakdown but compare the consequences of post-communism with those of post-colonialism.

The U.S. in southern Africa during the 19th & early 20th centuries --The U.S. lays the foundation for apartheid, 1906-1930 --Pretoria seeks alliance with Nazi Germany to complement ties with the U.S., 1930-1939 --Pro-Nazi sabotage in Pretoria, 1940-1945 --Washington as midwife as apartheid is birthed, 1945-1952 --"Where are the militant non-communist whites?" 1952-1956 --Emboldened Africans and Negroes, 1955-1957 --Turning point, 1957-1959 --In the shadow of Sharpeville, 1960-1962 --Pivotal years, 1963-1964 --Washington and Pretoria: can this marriage be saved? --Back to Black, 1967-1968 --Contradictions, 1968-1974 --Copernican changes in Portugal, 1973-1974 --Will Cuban troops invade Rhodesia, Namibia and South Africa? 1975-1976 --Soweto's reverberations, 1976-1978 --The U.S. unable to stem apartheid's crisis --The tide turns, 1980-1984 --The CIA cabal strikes back, 1984-1985 --Sanctions imposed on apartheid, 1986 --Endgame, 1987-1990 --Liberation, 1990-1994 --Epilogue: 1994-present.