The Cold War

The Cold War
ISBN-10
019923700X
ISBN-13
9780199237005
Series
The Cold War
Category
History
Pages
335
Language
English
Published
2011-05-26
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Author
John Lamberton Harper

Description

A concise, briskly-written over-view of the Cold War, drawing on the latest archival evidence and scholarly research and including a discussion of Cold War historiography and an introductory section containing primary documents. Harper illuminates the deep-seated behaviour patterns influencing both the Soviet Union and the United States: the search for security through expansion and military might, the belief in a "messianic" mission to uplift humanity, but also areadiness to live and let live based on membership in a common state system and a shared interest in survival. He stresses ways in which internal competitions for political power biased both the U.S.and Soviet systems towards bellicosity and obsessive preparation for a hot war that no one seriously intended to begin. And he addresses major questions such as how it began, why it never developed into a major 'hot' war, and the reasons why it came to an end.

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