Following World War II, Europe was divided in half: the democratic West, protected largely by the United State, and the communist East, controlled by the Soviet Union. In the decades that followed, the U.S. and Russia would compete for superiority in a conflict that came to be known as the Cold War. Explore the nuclear arms race, the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, and the space race through first-hand accounts.

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union lasted from the end of World War II until the end of the 1980s. Over the course of five decades, they never came to blows directly. Rather, these two world superpowers competed in other arenas that would touch almost every corner of the globe. Inside you will read about... ✓ What Was the Cold War? ✓ The Origins of the Cold War ✓ World War II and the Beginning of the Cold War ✓ The Cold War in the 1950s ✓ The Cold War in the 1960s ✓ The Cold War in the 1970s ✓ The Cold War in the 1980s and the End of the Cold War Both interfered in the affairs of other countries to win allies for their opposing ideologies. In the process, governments were destabilized, ideas silenced, revolutions broke out, and culture was controlled. This overview of the Cold War provides the story of how these two countries came to oppose one another, and the impact it had on them and others around the world.

Now available in a fully revised and updated third edition, The Cold War: A Post-Cold War History offers an authoritative and accessible introduction to the history and enduring legacy of the Cold War. Thoroughly updated in light of new scholarship, including revised sections on President Nixon’s policies in Vietnam and President Reagan’s approach to U.S.-Soviet relations Features six all new "counterparts" sections that juxtapose important historical figures to illustrate the contrasting viewpoints that characterized the Cold War Argues that the success of Western capitalism during the Cold War laid the groundwork for the economic globalization and political democratization that have defined the 21st century Includes extended coverage of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the most dangerous confrontation of the nuclear age thus far

In 1949, mounting tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States created an intense distrust between the two nations. This book tells the story of how that rivalry-known as the Cold War-dominated the foreign policies of the time, ultimately leading America into the Korean War and the Vietnam War. It also tells the story of how influential leaders, both black and white, advanced the cause of civil rights. Book jacket.

Over the last decade, studies of the Cold War have mushroomed globally. Unfortunately, work on Latin America has not been well represented in either theoretical or empirical discussions of the broader conflict. With some notable exceptions, studies have proceeded in rather conventional channels, focusing on U.S. policy objectives and high-profile leaders (Fidel Castro) and events (the Cuban Missile Crisis) and drawing largely on U.S. government sources. Moreover, only rarely have U.S. foreign relations scholars engaged productively with Latin American historians who analyze how the international conflict transformed the region's political, social, and cultural life. Representing a collaboration among eleven North American, Latin American, and European historians, anthropologists, and political scientists, this volume attempts to facilitate such a cross-fertilization. In the process, In From the Cold shifts the focus of attention away from the bipolar conflict, the preoccupation of much of the so-called "new Cold War history," in order to showcase research, discussion, and an array of new archival and oral sources centering on the grassroots, where conflicts actually brewed. The collection's contributors examine international and everyday contests over political power and cultural representation, focusing on communities and groups above and underground, on state houses and diplomatic board rooms manned by Latin American and international governing elites, on the relations among states regionally, and, less frequently, on the dynamics between the two great superpowers themselves. In addition to charting new directions for research on the Latin American Cold War, In From the Cold seeks to contribute more generally to an understanding of the conflict in the global south. Contributors. Ariel C. Armony, Steven J. Bachelor, Thomas S. Blanton, Seth Fein, Piero Gleijeses, Gilbert M. Joseph, Victoria Langland, Carlota McAllister, Stephen Pitti, Daniela Spenser, Eric Zolov

This truly international collection of articles provides a fresh and comprehensive analysis of the origins of the Cold War, moving beyond earlier controversies and including the newest research from the Communist side of the Cold War.

The Cold War shaped the world we live in today - its politics, economics, and military affairs. This book shows how the globalization of the Cold War during the last century created the foundations for most of the key conflicts we see today, including the War on Terror. It focuses on how the Third World policies of the two twentieth-century superpowers - the United States and the Soviet Union - gave rise to resentments and resistance that in the end helped topple one superpower and still seriously challenge the other. Ranging from China to Indonesia, Iran, Ethiopia, Angola, Cuba, and Nicaragua, it provides a truly global perspective on the Cold War. And by exploring both the development of interventionist ideologies and the revolutionary movements that confronted interventions, the book links the past with the present in ways that no other major work on the Cold War era has succeeded in doing.