About the Book
The Cambridge History of the Cold War is a comprehensive, international history of the conflict that dominated world politics in the twentieth century. The three-volume series, written by leading international experts in the field, elucidates how the Cold War evolved from the geopolitical, ideological, economic and socio-political environment of the two World Wars and the interwar era, and explains the global dynamics of the Cold War international system. It emphasises how the Cold War bequeathed conditions, challenges and conflicts that shape international affairs today. With discussions of demography and consumption, women and youth, science and technology, ethnicity and race, the volumes encompass the social, intellectual and economic history of the twentieth century, shedding new light on the evolution of the Cold War. Through its various geographical and national angles, the series signifies a transformation of the field from a national – primarily American – to a broader international approach.
Table of Contents:
Volume 1: 1. The Cold War and the international history of the twentieth century; 2. Ideology and the origins of the Cold War, 1917–1962; 3. The world economy and the Cold War in the mid-twentieth century; 4. The emergence of an American grand strategy, 1945–1952; 5. The Soviet Union and the world, 1944–1953; 6. Britain and the Cold War; 7. The division of Germany (1945–1949); 8. The Marshall Plan and the creation of the west; 9. The Sovietization of eastern Europe, 1944–1953; 10. The Cold War in the Balkans: from the Greek Civil War to Soviet-Yugoslav normalization; 11. The birth of the People's Republic of China and the road to the Korean War; 12. Japan, the United States, and the Cold War, 1945–1960; 13. The Korean War; 14. US national security policy from Eisenhower to Kennedy; 15. Soviet foreign policy, 1953–1962; 16. East-Central Europe from Stalin's death to the aftermath of the 1956 revolts; 17. The Sino-Soviet Alliance and the Cold War in Asia, 1954–1962; 18. Nuclear weapons and the escalation of the Cold War, 1945–1962; 19. Culture and the Cold War in Europe; 20. Cold War mobilization and domestic politics: the United States; 21. Cold War mobilisation and domestic politics: the Soviet Union, 1945–1962; 22. Decolonization, the global south, and the Cold War, 1919–1962; 23. Oil, resources, and the Cold War, 1945–1962. Volume 2: 1. Grand strategies in the Cold War; 2. Identity and the Cold War; 3. Economic aspects of the Cold War, 1962–1975; 4. The Cuban Missile Crisis; 5. Nuclear competition in an era of stalemate, 1963–1975; 6. US foreign policy from Kennedy to Johnson; 7. Soviet foreign policy, 1962–1975; 8. France, 'Gaulism', and the Cold War; 9. European integration and the Cold War; 10. Détente in Europe, 1962–1975; 11. Eastern Europe: Stalinism to solidarity; 12. Cold War and the transformation of the Mediterranean, 1960–1975; 13. The Cold War in the Third World, 1963–1975; 14. The Indochina Wars and the Cold War, 1945–1975; 15. The Cold War in the Middle East from the Suez Crisis to the Camp David Accords; 16. Cuba and the Cold War, 1959–1980; 17. The Sino-Soviet split; 18. Détente in the Nixon-Ford years, 1969–1976; 19. Nuclear proliferation and non-proliferation during the Cold War; 20. Intelligence in the Cold War; 21. Reading, viewing and tuning-in to the Cold War; 22. Counter-cultures: the rebellions against the Cold War order, 1965–1975; 23. The structure of great power politics, 1963–1975; 24. The Cold War and the social and economic history of the twentieth century. Volume 3: 1. The Cold War and the intellectual history of the late twentieth century; 2. The world economy and the Cold War, 1970–1990; 3. The rise and fall of Eurocommunism; 4. The Cold War and Jimmy Carter; 5. Soviet foreign policy from Détente to Gorbachev, 1975–1985; 6. Islamism, the Iranian Revolution, and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan; 7. The collapse of superpower détente, 1975–1980; 8. Japan and the Cold War from 1960 to 1991; 9. China and the Cold War after Mao; 10. The Cold War in Central America, 1975–1991; 11. The Cold War and Southern Africa, 1976–1990; 12. The Gorbachev revolution and the end of the Cold War; 13. US foreign policy from Reagan to Bush; 14. Western Europe and the end of the Cold War, 1979–1989; 15. The East European revolutions of 1989; 16. The unification of Germany, 1985–1991; 17. The collapse of the Soviet Union, 1990–1991; 18. Science, technology and the Cold War; 19. Transnational organizations and the Cold War; 20. The Biosphere and the Cold War; 21. The Cold War and human rights; 22. The Cold War in the longue durée: global migration, public health, and population control; 23. Consumer capitalism and the end of the Cold War; 24. An 'incredibly swift transition': reflections on the end of the Cold War; 25. The restructuring of the international system after the Cold War.
Review :
Review of the hardback set: 'There has never been a Cold War history like it; everything about it is monumental … In total, the volumes represent a successful interconnected attempt at describing the Cold War in full.' Jost Dülffer, H-Soz-u-Kult
Review of the hardback set: 'The Cambridge History of the Cold War (CHCW) marks a coming of age for Cold War studies. This multi-volume compilation provides a synthesis of the 'New Cold War History'. It is a signal moment in the evolution of the field.' Mike Sewell, H-Diplo
'As a source of essential information about the Cold War, this Cambridge History is going to be hard to beat.' The Times Literary Supplement
Review of the set: '… if [I] could recommend just three books to a reader with no prior knowledge of the Cold War - the average undergraduate, say - it would likely be this series. The breadth and depth of coverage, in disciplinary and geographical terms, is unparalleled.' David Milne, H-Diplo
'We have a waited a long time for a standard and usable reference on the Cold War that provides a solid foundation for the beginning student or general reader, while offering avenues for further research for the more advanced scholar. And now - and for some time to come - we have it.' Tom Nichols, H-Diplo Roundtable Reviews (h-net.org/~diplo/roundtables)
'The three-volume Cambridge History of the Cold War, edited by two leading historians of the Cold War, Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad, is … the fruit of a grand project comprising seventy-three contributions by a vast team of international historians hailing from eighteen countries, and weighs in at some 2000 pages. It is a laudable achievement and goes a long way towards doing what pundits talk about a great deal but rarely do, that is, to globalize Cold War history. On offer here is a rich diversity of viewpoints and interpretations, and the three volumes hang together well in overarching theme and scope … a landmark achievement, and will be indispensable for historians of the period for many years to come.' Paul Betts, German History
'Among the volumes' greatest achievements two stand out: the first is the sheer range of contributors and topics which trace this long period in world history from its beginnings in the Second World War to the dismantling of the Soviet's Empire in the 1990s. The second is the overall balanced and sustained objectivity in a field in which it is all too easy to lessen one's historical work by taking sides.' Contemporary Review
