Condensing The Cold War

"Condensing the Cold War shifts the focus on geopolitics and international relations in America from the study of political elites to the imagined geographies of popular culture. Joanne Sharp exposes the links that the Digest forged between the individual reader and the destiny of the United States, especially those relating to the Soviet Union, a Cold War enemy whose character the magazine is often credited with helping to create. Sharp shows how the changing representations of the communist threat to the United States depicted in the Digest produced a particular image of Americanness for its readers and reveals how readers were drawn into the developing story to become complicit subjects of this political identity."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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.

De-Centering Cold War History challenges the Cold War master narratives that focus on super-power politics by shifting our analytical perspective to include local-level experiences and regional initiatives that were crucial to the making of a Cold War world. Cold War histories are often told as stories of national leaders, state policies and the global confrontation that pitted a Communist Eastern Bloc against a Capitalist West. Taking a new analytical approach this book reveals unexpected complexities in the historical trajectory of the Cold War. Contributions from an international group of scholars take a fresh look at historical agency in different places across the world, including Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. This collaborative effort shapes a street-level history of the global Cold War era, one that uses the analysis of the 'local' to rethink and reframe the wider picture of the 'global', connecting the political negotiations of individuals and communities at the intersection of places and of meeting points between 'ordinary' people and political elites to the Cold War at large. Essential reading for all students of Cold War history.

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.

Since the cold war ended, it has become an international field of study, with new material from China, the former Soviet Union and Europe. This volume takes stock of where these new materials have taken us in our understanding of what the cold war was about and how we should study it.

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 Nixons policies in Vietnam and President Reagans 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

This comprehensive collection of carefully edited documents—speeches, treaties, statements, and articles—traces the rise and fall of the Cold War. The sources follow the Cold War from its roots in East–West tensions at the end of World War II to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Set in historical context by the editors’ concise introductions and followed by thoughtful discussion questions, the documents are arranged in chronological order, starting with the Yalta Conference and ending with Gorbachev’s resignation speech. Drawing on selections from a variety of countries and leaders involved in this prolonged global struggle, the editors treat the entire Cold War as an era in world history, not just U.S. history. Their judicious selection makes the great events of the time come alive through the words and phrases of those who were actively involved.