The Cold War: A New Oral History

by Bridget Kendall

Overview

In this meticulously researched account, Bridget Kendall explores the Cold War through the eyes of those who experienced it first-hand. Alongside in-depth analysis that explains the historical and political context, the book draws on exclusive interviews with individuals who lived through the conflict's key events, offering a variety of perspectives that reveal how the Cold War was experienced by ordinary people. From pilots making food drops during the Berlin Blockade and Japanese fishermen affected by H-bomb testing to families fleeing the Korean War and children whose parents were victims of McCarthy's Red Scare, The Cold War covers the full geographical and historical reach of the conflict. The Cold War is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how the tensions of the last century have shaped the modern world, and what it was like to live through them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785942600
Publisher:	B B C Worldwide Americas
Publication date:	10/01/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	672
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Bridget Kendall was foreign correspondent for the BBC in Moscow during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Formerly the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, she is now the first female master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

'Then all hell broke loose' The Greek Civil War (1944-9) 1

'The Iron Curtain was in place' The Communist Coup in Czechoslovakia (1948) 24

'There were no weapons, only arguments, ideas' The Italian Election of 1948 42

'We were suddenly shut off' The Berlin Blockade (1948-9) 58

'Then fear replaced pride' The Fall of Shanghai (1949) 77

'The trap shut' The Korean War (1950-3) 95

'The world became a hostile place' McCarthyism (1950-4) 115

'When I saw the light, I had no idea what was happening' The H-Bomb (1950s) 135

'Now it was going to be different' The East German Uprising (1953) 153

'Democracy and freedom became a memory only' The Iranian Coup (1953) 172

'It was the beginning of freedom' Khrushchev's Secret Speech (1956) 185

'We are not your comrades' The Hungarian Revolution (1956) 205

'They were leaving with only their suitcases, they lost everything' The Congo Crisis (1960-1) 227

'If one went, one couldn't return' The Berlin Wall (1961) 246

'The world was going to end any time now' The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) 268

'There was no future' The Fall of Khrushchev and the Rise of Brezhnev (1964-82) 284

'They could accuse you of anything' The Outbreak of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-7) 304

'They didn't want to live in the dark any more' The Prague Spring (1968) 326

'I can't wash that stain away' America's Vietnam War (1965-73) 347

'Everything that you thought is not true any more' The Coup in Chile (1973) 369

'These were just ordinary men marching in the street' The Fall of Saigon and the Aftermath of the Vietnam War (1975-9) 390

'We fell into each other's arms' The Cold Peace and Ostpolitik (1969-79) 411

'The country was left with no protection at all' The Angolan Civil War (1975-2002) 432

'The newcomer holding a weapon is the enemy' The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979-89) 455

'We came out victorious' The Birth of Solidarity in Poland (1980) 477

'A threat to our mutual humanity' The Nuclear Arms Race and CND (1981-7) 496

'Everyone wanted change' Gorbachev's Perestroika (1985-91) 517

'They are not so different from us' The Fall of the Berlin Wall and German Reunification (1989-90) 535

'The greatest value of mankind is their freedom' The Baltic Republics Leave the Soviet Union (1988-91) 558

'The last nail in the coffin' The Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991) 578

Contributor biographies 597

Further Reading: Contributors' Publications 619

Further Reading 623

Index of Contributors 625

Index 629

Picture credits 647

Acknowledgements 649

Author biographies 653

Editorial Reviews

"Bridget Kendall is renowned for her coverage of the Soviet Union. In her understanding of Russia she has few peers. Her collection of first-hand stories of the experience of the Cold War is chilling, powerful and important. These memories are the more compelling for being placed with her own experience and knowledge of those grim days." - Jonathan Dimbleby -

From the Publisher