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Review
A fresh and admirably concise history . . . Gaddis's mastery of the material, his fluent style and eye for the telling anecdote make his new work a pleasure. ("The Economist")
Len Deighton
'Gripping'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In the books preface John Lewis Gaddis explains that The Cold War was written following requests by both his editor and his students for a short, comprehensive, and accessible book on the cold war, as an alternative to the authors more weighty efforts. He has succeeded in doing this, managing to restrict the book to only 266 pages whilst covering the entire span of the conflict, and this means of course that the book could only ever be a brief overview of the subject and is therefore only interesting as an introduction.
Whilst I enjoyed the book I couldnt help feeling that the author was more than a little one eyed when coming to many of his conclusions, and I do wonder about his seeming hero worship of Ronald Reagan. Was Reagan really, as Gaddis suggests, one of the most skilled politicians the US had had for many years, and one of its sharpest ever grand strategists? Was it really his great strength that he was possesed of an ability to see beyond complexity to simplicity? Im not so sure..
In short, worth a read as an introduction.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a read, the book is good (why it gets 2 stars.) As an objective book of the Cold War it is not. For a proffessional critique of this book see David Painter's review 'A Partial History of the Cold War.' in Cold War History, 6:4, 527 - 534.
It ignores a lot of recent work on the Cold War and presents as 'fact' things that are not universally agreed on. If your view of the Cold War is based solely on this book then you will struggle to objectively analyse the Cold War. It is a shame for an academic as renowned as Gaddis to completely ignore other sides of the argument, he may not agree with them but it is right to acknowledge their existence. If you are looking for something more objective try Zubok & Pleshakov's 'Inside the Kremlin's Cold War' or anything by Len Scott.
A Cold War Student
It ignores a lot of recent work on the Cold War and presents as 'fact' things that are not universally agreed on. If your view of the Cold War is based solely on this book then you will struggle to objectively analyse the Cold War. It is a shame for an academic as renowned as Gaddis to completely ignore other sides of the argument, he may not agree with them but it is right to acknowledge their existence. If you are looking for something more objective try Zubok & Pleshakov's 'Inside the Kremlin's Cold War' or anything by Len Scott.
A Cold War Student
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Gaddis has succeeded in producing a concise history of the Cold War from its beginnings prior to WWII to its end in the early 1990s. The book's great strength is in how it subtly ties disparate events from across the world over several decades into a compelling narrative.
While many reviews of the Cold War deal with its geo-strategic and economic aspects, Gaddis describes the evolution of the Cold War through the actions of its major characters, from Stalin to Gorbachev, Eisenhower to Reagan. This focus makes the book a welcome complement to histories of the War with a more strategic or economic emphasis; it does, however, alao mean the book is lacking in discussion of those aspects of the conflict.
Those familiar with the period should know that the book's brevity means that peripheral events such as the United States' intervention in El Salvador or Nicaragua receive only a passing mention, while even more crucial episodes such as the Cuban Missile Crisis are covered in just a few pages. Nevertheless, the book achieves what it sets out to do. It would make an ideal introduction to the period for the undergraduate or for those with an interest in, but little prior knowledge of the Cold War.
While many reviews of the Cold War deal with its geo-strategic and economic aspects, Gaddis describes the evolution of the Cold War through the actions of its major characters, from Stalin to Gorbachev, Eisenhower to Reagan. This focus makes the book a welcome complement to histories of the War with a more strategic or economic emphasis; it does, however, alao mean the book is lacking in discussion of those aspects of the conflict.
Those familiar with the period should know that the book's brevity means that peripheral events such as the United States' intervention in El Salvador or Nicaragua receive only a passing mention, while even more crucial episodes such as the Cuban Missile Crisis are covered in just a few pages. Nevertheless, the book achieves what it sets out to do. It would make an ideal introduction to the period for the undergraduate or for those with an interest in, but little prior knowledge of the Cold War.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Highly readable interpretation
I studied the Cold War at undergraduate level in the early 1990s. One of the difficult aspects of studying it at that time was that we were too close to the Cold War's end to step... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. B. Hillis
one sided
Gaddis book adopts a simplistic 'great men of history' reading of all social and historic events, there are more flaws to this approach than it would be possible to outline here... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. N. D. Jones
Some parts are very personal
Although I am OK with many chapters, I found some of them a bit confusing and some parts very personal. It seems it is clear that the book was written by an American author. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Melike
Concise, as it was intended
This book was perfect for supplementing my college studies, whilst also fuelling my interest in twentieth century history. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Jon 'ET' A
A short lesson in how history books can be written
John Lewis Gaddis has produced a short, highly readable book on the Cold War that balances analysis with what happened - which these days is rare as most books weigh in at hundreds... Read more
Published on 4 July 2009 by Jl Adcock
Maybe too much of a whistle-stop tour
Having read this book recently the main thing that I can take away from the experience is not having learnt an awful lot more than I already knew about the Cold War. Read more
Published on 19 April 2009 by J. Milton
Rob's review
i picked up a lot from this book and what i learned has already come in handy. my main criticism would be that the wars in vietnam and afghanistan were covered in a fraction of the... Read more
Published on 22 Jan 2009 by R. R. Smith
Really bad history...
Silly, jingoistic, pulp history shot through with half truths, unsupported and unsupportable claims and distortions. Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2008 by John Dynan
Fantastic As An Introduction...
I, like many others, had my interest in the cold war peaked by glamorous tales of espionage and horrific tales of near nuclear holocaust. Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2008 by B. Harte
Very readable introduction to the topic
Being relatively ignorant of the cold war and its causes, I picked up this book on a whim. I've found it very readable, gripping really, in the manner of a bestseller. Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2008 by Alexander Jazayeri
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