Itemize Out Of Books The Cold War: A History
Title | : | The Cold War: A History |
Author | : | Martin Walker |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 401 pages |
Published | : | June 15th 1995 by Holt Paperbacks (first published 1993) |
Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. Politics. War. North American Hi.... American History |
Martin Walker
Paperback | Pages: 401 pages Rating: 3.85 | 270 Users | 21 Reviews
Description As Books The Cold War: A History
"The history of the Cold War has been the history of the world since 1954." So begins this wide-ranging narrative by award-winning political commentator Martin Walker, which is the first major study of the Cold War. Now that it is over, it is crucial to our future to understand how the Cold War has shaped us and, especially, to recognize it as the economic and political dynamic that determined the structure of today's global economy.From the origins of the Marshall Plan, which revived Europe after World War II, and the strategic decision to rebuild a defeated Japan into a bulwark against China to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, this authoritative work reveals how the West was built into an economic alliance that overpowered the Soviet economy while also unleashing global economic forces that today challenge the traditional nation-state.
The Cold War was more of a global conflict than was either of this century's two major wars; far more than a confrontation between states or even empires, it was, as Martin Walker puts it, "a total war between economic and social systems, an industrial test to destruction."
Walker reminds us how easy it is to forget that there were many occasions for the late 1940s on when victory seemed far from assured, and that lent a particular urgency to the efforts of postwar Western leaders. The West continued to be alarmed by the prospect of defeat right up to the Soviet empire's last breath. At the end of the 1940s the fear was generated by communist expansion into Eastern Europe and China; in the 1960s by the prospect of defeat in Vietnam. In the 1970s the failure of détente and the West's economic crisis brought a new generation of dedicated anti-Communists to prominence. For more than forty years, as this detailed analysis makes clear, the outcome of the Cold War was in doubt.
We also come to understand how the arms race caused new alignments and shifts in domestic power. As the United States became the national security state, California, which had a population of five million at the start of the Cold War, grew to thirty million and, by the 1980s provided one in every ten members of Congress and two presidents.
Using newly opened Kremlin archives and his own experiences in the field, Martin Walker has written a brilliant analysis of the conflict that has shaped the contemporary world.
Declare Books In Favor Of The Cold War: A History
Original Title: | The Cold War: A History |
ISBN: | 0805034544 (ISBN13: 9780805034547) |
Edition Language: | English |
Rating Out Of Books The Cold War: A History
Ratings: 3.85 From 270 Users | 21 ReviewsDiscuss Out Of Books The Cold War: A History
Read this for grad school, ages ago. Had a lot of good information, but I actually think you could get almost all of it coherently and pretty comprehensively from just reading the afterword.Very interesting overview of the Cold War. I did not know much about the Cold War, because I wasn't old enough to experience it, and it doesn't get as much history coverage as the "real" wars. This was a great book from that perspective, as it briefly summarizes the different events from beginning to end. One negative being that sometimes I was very interested in certain events such as the end of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis and the descriptions are brief. The other negative is that
Very informative, however i found the writing style very dry.
Decent overview of th Cold War, hitting all the highlights (though Nixon's relation making with China is barely mentioned). There are lots of surveys of the Cold War out there, and there isn't much here to distinguish it from the other works.
Very informative all points of current history covered. Each decade of time represented with lots of views, outlooks and insights. So well written and documented you remember things forgotten, learn information new to you, and see the differences today.
Martin Walker wrote a very comprehensive look at the Cold Was with his book The Cold War: A History. Even though his book was published in 1993 I can't think of a more important time as now to read his book. Mistakes and missed opportunities were done by both sides of the conflict which now leads us to current events we are seeing now across the geopolitical spectrum.I highly recommended Mr. Walker's book.
I found Walkers book excellent, enjoyable and an extremely useful tool in my studies of the Cold War. Walker has successfully achieved a book that has the ability to bring the history to a readable level, that is accessible to everyone - anyone could pick the book up and learn about what happened. It isnt the most analytical commentary, but rather simply explains the what happened instead of why it happened, although Walker did attempt at various points to explain some whys. It is definitely a
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.