The Columbia Guide to the Cold War / Edition 1

by Michael Kort

Overview

The Cold War was the longest conflict in American history, and the defining event of the second half of the twentieth century. Since its recent and abrupt cessation, we have only begun to measure the effects of the Cold War on American, Soviet, post-Soviet, and international military strategy, economics, domestic policy, and popular culture. The Columbia Guide to the Cold War is the first in a series of guides to American history and culture that will offer a wealth of interpretive information in different formats to students, scholars, and general readers alike. This reference contains narrative essays on key events and issues, and also features an A-to-Z encyclopedia, a concise chronology, and an annotated resource section listing books, articles, films, novels, web sites, and CD-ROMs on Cold War themes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231107730
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	03/08/2001
Series:	Columbia Guides to American History and Cultures Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	420
Sales rank:	1,129,489
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Michael Kort is a professor of social science at Boston University's College of General Studies. He is the author of several books on the Soviet Union and Cold War history including The Handbook of the Former Soviet Union; The Soviet Colossus: History and Aftermath; and The Cold War.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Narrative Overview
1. The Cold War and Its Historians
2. The Cold War Begins: 1945–1953
3. From the Thaw to the Brink: 1953–1962
4. Vietnam and Detente: 1962–1975
5. The New Cold War: 1976–1984
6. The End of the Cold War: 1985–1990
Part II. The Cold War A to Z
Part III. Concise Chronology
Part IV. Resources
Introduction: Looking for Resources
1. Topics
2. Memoirs and Biographies
3. Bibliographies, Reference Works, and Primary-Source Collections
4. Journals, Projects/Archives, and Presidential Libraries
5. Electronic Resources
6. Films and Novels
Appendix: The Costs of the Cold War
Index

Editorial Reviews

A balanced, well argued short chapter on the Vietnam War... also contains an excellent listing of relevant people, events, and terms.

The VVA Veteran

A balanced, well argued short chapter on the Vietnam War. . . also contains an excellent listing of relevant people, events, and terms.

V V A Veteran

First in a new series of guides to periods of American history and culture, this book presents a narrative overview of key events and issues in the history of the Cold War, as well as a dictionary of terms, institutions, and people; a condensed chronology; and an annotated resource section listing books, articles, films, novels, websites, and CD-ROMs on Cold War themes and topics. The inclusion of photographs would have made this comprehensive reference even more satisfying. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

A valuable encyclopedia on the Cold War-one of the few available-containing a wealth of information not otherwise available in one place. Kort (Social Science/Boston Univ.; The Soviet Colossus: A History, 1984, etc.) deals in a short, 96-page introductory essay with the origins and development of the Cold War, including the reasons for the deterioration of relations between the US and the Soviet Union in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War; the impact on US domestic politics; why the Cold War expanded into the Third World; détente and its decline; and what factors ultimately ended it. Most useful is the discussion of the differing interpretations of the struggle, a debate between the traditionalists, who have argued that the problem lay in an expansionist Soviet Union; the revisionists, who blamed US economic expansionism, almost without regard to the Soviet dictatorship; and the post-revisionists, who rejected this economic determinism and the failure to take the Soviet threat into account, while not neglecting the security concerns of the Soviet Union. Kort holds that recent research in the Soviet archives strengthens the traditionalist and post-revisionist views. The last three sections of the volume are a collection of short biographies of the major participants, a concise chronology, and a 140-page critical bibliography of the subject, grouped by period and by topic, with comments on the utility of particular texts for instructional purposes. A very useful approach to the subject. .

Kirkus Reviews

One of the most concise and usable handbooks available.... An excellent starting point for further investigation and refinement of questions.

Booklist

One of the most concise and usable handbooks available.... An excellent starting point for further investigation and refinement of questions.

Booklist

A balanced, well argued short chapter on the Vietnam War... also contains an excellent listing of relevant people, events, and terms.

The V V A Veteran