Product Description

An overall narrative for the period 1945 to 1990, telling in words and pictures what it was like to live through the momentous events that affected us all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #205042 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Beautifully designed and illustrated with hundreds of photographs, this companion volume to the CNN documentary series begins with the roots of the Cold War: the military intervention by six nations (including the United States) in the Bolsheviks' 1917 Russian Revolution. The book then takes on the Cold War proper, from the post-World War II rise of the Iron Curtain to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet government in the early 1990s. "For forty-five years," the authors write, "the peoples of the world held their breath," through missile crises, policies of "mutual assured destruction," the Vietnam War, and the uneasy steps toward détente and full peace highlighted by Richard Nixon's meetings with Leonid Brezhnev and by Mikhail Gorbachev's meetings with Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Special sections highlight the role of spies in the Cold War, as well as the films and literature of the era. This is a copiously detailed account of the major historical force of the latter half of the 20th century that would make an excellent reference book for any household.

Guardian
'An excellent one-volume history of forty-five years of superpower rivalry'

About the Author
Jeremy Isaacs
Jeremy Isaacs was educated at Glasgow Academy and Merton College, Oxford, where he read Classics, was Chairman of the Labour Club, and was elected President of the Oxford Union Society. His education continued in the Highland Light Infantry and the Royal Scots Fusiliers. In 1958 he joined Granada Television. He was Director of Programmes, Thames Television (1974-9) and Founding Chief Executive of Channel Four (1981-7). In 1988 he became General Director of the Royal Opera House, a position he held for nine years. He was made Knight Bachelor in 1996.

Customer Reviews

Very readable, fascinating mixture of pictures and text.
Having often wanted to know more about those crucial recent world events that made up the cold war, this book tells you all you need to know without going into painful laborious detail. The pictures and writing style are all excellent. I found I wanted to read it in one go.

Cold war
This is a brilliant look at the cold war period and the events that lead up to it. It is comprehensive enough without becoming too dry to plough through and I found it engaging throughout. The illustrations are well produced and the chapters are full of detail. Well recommended if you are interested in learning more about this period of history.

A brilliant and complete review of the Cold War
This book is a perfect reference book giving insights into all aspects of the cold war. The structure is clear and simple, with chapters covering each of the important episodes of the time between the end of WWII and the fall of the Soviet Union, illustrated by the matching historic pictures. Some details may have been forgotten though, but the author has truely earned my 4-star rating!