We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History (Council on Foreign Relations Book)

About this book

"A masterly review of the early pahses of the conflict between the United States Russia China and their respective allies from 1946 to the Cuban missle crisis in the autumn of 1962. It is clear thorough and judicious; in short magnificent."--The Economist "...Gaddis has done a thorough job of collating material from these diverse sources...and constructing a trenchant analysis that puts these fascinating tidbits into context."--San Francisco Chronicle & Examiner Based on the latest findings of Cold War historians and extensive research in American archives as well as the recently opened archives in Eastern Europe the former Soviet Union and China We Now Know provides a vividly written eye-opening account of the Cold War during the years from the end of World War II to the Cuban missile crisis. The book brims with new information drawn from previously unavailable sources with fresh insight into the impact of ideology economics and nuclear weapons and with striking reinterpretations of the roles of Truman Eisenhower Kennedy Khrushchev Mao and Stalin. Indeed Gaddis concludes that if there was one factor that made the Cold War unavoidable it was Stalin.