An elegantly written, vivid history of the early years of the Cold
War, culminating with the Bay of Pigs crisis. Noting that the flood
of materials from archives in this country and abroad has
substantially deepened, and sometimes considerably altered,
scholars' view of events, veteran Cold War historian Gaddis (The
United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1972, etc.) has set
out to provide an overview for a general audience of the leaders,
policies, and international crises that shaped the late 1940s to
the early '60s, concentrating on the two great antagonists, the US
and the Soviet Union, and their leaders. While no one figure shaped
the Cold War, Stalin came closest, injecting an obsessive paranoia,
duplicity, and an aura of menace into the relations among post - WW
II states. "Suspicion, distrust, and an abiding cynicism were,"
Gaddis observes, "not only his preferred but his necessary
environment." And while these qualities, along with an
extraordinary capacity for cruelty, extended and preserved the
USSR, they also, Gaddis argues, ensured its downfall. "The killings
Stalin authorized, the states he seized. . .the sphere of influence
he imposed provided no lasting security for the Soviet Union." They
inspired resistance that, when Soviet leaders lost the taste for
repression, could not be contained. In a series of chapters on
American and Russian conflicts in the third world, on the place of
nuclear weapons in the uncertain balance of power, and on the
increasingly uncomfortable relations between America and Russia and
their respective allies, he does a superb job of synthesizing a
wide range of sources, drawing clear and persuasive lessons from
events. His reading of the motivations of figures as diverse as
John F. Kennedy and Chairman Mao seems balanced and acute. Gaddis
has written a lively, deeply informed summary, the most accessible
and compelling guide to the international conflicts, issues, and
dominant ideologies of the early Cold War era. (Kirkus Reviews)
Did the Soviet Union want world revolution? Why did the USSR send missiles to Cuba? What made the Cold War last as long as it did? Drawing on new sources and scholarship, John Lewis Gaddis presents a comprehensive comparative history of the conflict from its origins, to its most dangerous moment, the Cuban Missile Crisis. A fresh, thought-provoking and powerfully argued reassessment of the Cold War by one of its most distinguished historians, We Know Now will set the agenda for debates on this subject for years to come.
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