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Product Description
THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF GLOBAL CHANGE FROM 1945 TO THE PRESENT DAY The world since 1945 has witnessed fundamental changes, notably the increasing influence of the West - particularly the USA - in a variety of spheres, the emergence and collapse of the USSR, the end of colonial empire in Asia and Africa and the escalation of wars and other conflicts in the Third World. In this incisive survey T. E. Vadney examines the key events without ever neglecting the underlying trends. He explores therapid changes in the Middle East, the end of apartheid in South Africa and the aims of American foreign policy. He concludes with a new epilogue in which he examines the direction of post-1945 history as the world enters the twenty-first century.
About the Author
T. E. Vadney was born in 1939 and is Professor of History at the University of Manitoba in Canada. He organized the programme in contemporary world history and he continues to teach and write on US and global affairs.
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The background to global history since 1945 is to be found in the Second World War, though not simply in the defeat of Germany and Japan. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The background to global history since 1945 is to be found in the Second World War, though not simply in the defeat of Germany and Japan. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
T.E.Vadneys "The World Since 1945" is an accessible, and generally excellent, overview of the world's historical experience between 1945 and roughly 1985. The book is comprehensive in its coverage of not only key (or apparently key) events in world history, but also for the particular focus Vadney brings to the experiences of the third world.
Vadneys writes from a tradition that can be broadly described as left of centre. It is certainly not dogmatic, for example the standards he holds the United States to are the same as those that he brings to his coverage of the Soviet Union, but it is one that gives the book an internationalist flavour and a tangible concern for those who live in the third world or under oppressive situations of whatever kind. Another strength of the book is that Vadney doesn't let himself become chained to the standard cold war narrative, and the fruits of his freedom from this are excellent accounts of post-war Latin American, Asian (especially Indo China) and African history that deal with external factors in a rational and reasoned manner. This is particularly important given that at the time these countries were struggling for economic and political independence, which Vadney rightly regards as the key theme of the period. He is also excellent at summarising the pre-1945 histories in a way that gives the reader an insight into the historical context within which the developments and events he describes occurred, and also pays serious attention to events internal to nations, as well as those between nations. The generally good coverage of third world countries in the book doesn't preclude Vadney from coherently accounting for events in Europe, North America and within Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
Unfortunately the book is by no means perfect, there are a few noticeable bloopers (e.g. he states that the Shiites are a minority in Iraq), and in the vast array of events and developments he writes on it is easy to make a case for problems of selection, emphasis, and (less frequently) accuracy. This is most systematic in his coverage of the confrontation in the Middle East between Israel and the Arabs. Vadney, and it was not uncommon amongst apparent lefties at that time and since, follows a line that is sympathetic to the official Israeli discourse to a degree that ought to be a major embarrassment to anyone serious about narrating and explaining historical reality,
In general I find that books of this nature that synthesis a large amount of material in a relatively short space can form an excellent introduction to a subject. In this case the subject is the post-WW2 world, and Vadney not only stimulates a curiosity to discover more about particular developments from third world de-colonisation and economic development, to nuclear weapons and neo-colonialism, but also provides a basic framework for understanding them on a global basis. With the exception of the material that pertains to the Middle East, "The World Since 1945" provides an excellent and intelligent summary of world history for the period that is well worth reading.
Vadneys writes from a tradition that can be broadly described as left of centre. It is certainly not dogmatic, for example the standards he holds the United States to are the same as those that he brings to his coverage of the Soviet Union, but it is one that gives the book an internationalist flavour and a tangible concern for those who live in the third world or under oppressive situations of whatever kind. Another strength of the book is that Vadney doesn't let himself become chained to the standard cold war narrative, and the fruits of his freedom from this are excellent accounts of post-war Latin American, Asian (especially Indo China) and African history that deal with external factors in a rational and reasoned manner. This is particularly important given that at the time these countries were struggling for economic and political independence, which Vadney rightly regards as the key theme of the period. He is also excellent at summarising the pre-1945 histories in a way that gives the reader an insight into the historical context within which the developments and events he describes occurred, and also pays serious attention to events internal to nations, as well as those between nations. The generally good coverage of third world countries in the book doesn't preclude Vadney from coherently accounting for events in Europe, North America and within Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
Unfortunately the book is by no means perfect, there are a few noticeable bloopers (e.g. he states that the Shiites are a minority in Iraq), and in the vast array of events and developments he writes on it is easy to make a case for problems of selection, emphasis, and (less frequently) accuracy. This is most systematic in his coverage of the confrontation in the Middle East between Israel and the Arabs. Vadney, and it was not uncommon amongst apparent lefties at that time and since, follows a line that is sympathetic to the official Israeli discourse to a degree that ought to be a major embarrassment to anyone serious about narrating and explaining historical reality,
In general I find that books of this nature that synthesis a large amount of material in a relatively short space can form an excellent introduction to a subject. In this case the subject is the post-WW2 world, and Vadney not only stimulates a curiosity to discover more about particular developments from third world de-colonisation and economic development, to nuclear weapons and neo-colonialism, but also provides a basic framework for understanding them on a global basis. With the exception of the material that pertains to the Middle East, "The World Since 1945" provides an excellent and intelligent summary of world history for the period that is well worth reading.
Format:Paperback
I don't think I've come across any book quite like this: compressing such a huge number of events and a genuinely global perspective into a manageable, readable narrative, without loss of authority. Vadney is able to do it because, besides knowing what he's talking about - and despite having a more or less left-wing standpoint - he's not trying to push any particular agenda or narrative (S Wood says in his review that it's pro-Israel, but I don't pick that up). On the contrary, he says expressly that it's not the historian's job to reconcile contradiction: he follows the facts where they lead. It probably also helps that he's Canadian rather than American or British.
It's been great for filling in the gaps about all the events that were in the recent past as I was growing up, and which I often heard referred to, but without knowing exactly what went on. And the fact that it's an almost uniformly depressing story is not, after all, Vadney's fault; he allows you to assimilate the information with a minimum of pain.
The original book (which is the one I got) was published in 1987, and obviously another entire epoch has transpired since then. How far it is covered in the 'new edition' (itself 14 years old now), I can't say.
It's been great for filling in the gaps about all the events that were in the recent past as I was growing up, and which I often heard referred to, but without knowing exactly what went on. And the fact that it's an almost uniformly depressing story is not, after all, Vadney's fault; he allows you to assimilate the information with a minimum of pain.
The original book (which is the one I got) was published in 1987, and obviously another entire epoch has transpired since then. How far it is covered in the 'new edition' (itself 14 years old now), I can't say.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Global history of Cold War era
27 Nov 2001
Format:Paperback
This is essentially a history of the Cold War period, i.e. 1945 to the early 1990s. Even so, it does not focus on the U.S. and the Soviet Union, nor great power politics as such. Instead, Vadney broadens the focus and gives due consideration to the Third World which, as he notes, accounts for the vast majority of the world's population (since India and China can be placed in this category). The general emphasis is on major political events and trends, with only some attention given to economic and social factors. Nonetheless, this is still a highly useful book, as Vadney provides essential background and details on a number of events and regions not normally covered in standard "world history" or "Western civ" texts. The book's organization and uncluttered writing style also make it an outstanding reference work for this period.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
CHANGES YOUR PERSPECTIVE. Masterful.
23 Mar 2003
Format:Paperback
I'll keep this short. The book is a terrific overview of what has been happening in our little world since 1945. There is so much here that you will never learn through our media and through other historical text books. Especially given the current world circumstances, it is imperative that Americans learn about histories of other people and how American foreign policy has done some wonderful, and also horrendous, things to other people in the last 50 years. THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR OUTLOOK ON AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY FOREVER.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
For those who want to know who did what to whom and why.
30 May 2000
Format:Paperback
From the Russian revolution to the Cuban missle crisis.The establishment of the Bretton Woods institutions and Marshall Aid to the OPEC oil shocks.From the collapse of collonialism,to the collapse of the Berlin wall. The 20th century had it all,and this book manages to cover it all in a logical easy to follow format.Each different era in covered ,as is each region(Europe,the Americas,Asia,Africa).
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