The United States and the Origins of the Cold War [Paperback]

John Lewis Gaddis (Author), John Gaddis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 023112239X | ISBN-13: 978-0231122399 | Publication Date: October 15, 2000 | Edition: Revised

John Lewis Gaddis' acclaimed history of U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union during and immediately after World War II is now available with a new preface by the author. This book moves beyond the focus on economic considerations that was central to the work of New Left historians, examining the many other forces -- domestic politics, bureaucratic inertia, quirks of personality, and perceptions of Soviet intentions -- that influenced key decision makers in Washington, and in doing so seeks to analyze these determinants of policy in terms of their full diversity and relative significance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[T]he most satisfactory post-revisionist treatment of American policy making to date.

(New York Times Book Review )

History moves fast, and it is a rare book that stays current after almost 30 years. John Gaddis's "postrevisionist" study of how the United States and Soviet Union got themselves into such sterile conflict of interests following the defeat of the Axis remains one of the best books available on this crucial period.

(The Daily Yomiuri )

An exceptionally elegant and detached example of post revisionism. (from the first edition)

(The New York Review of Books )

About the Author

John Lewis Gaddis is professor of history at Yale University

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; Revised edition (October 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 023112239X
• ISBN-13: 978-0231122399
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #494,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic history synthesizing orthodox and revisionist perspectives, June 5, 2007

By 

Arthur Digbee (Indianapolis, IN, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The United States and the Origins of the Cold War (Paperback)

This book is a classic history of the origins of the Cold War. It must be seen in terms of the debates when it was written. The first interpretations of the Cold War told a story of an aggressive, expansionist Soviet Union subverting democracy in Eastern Europe. In the 1960s and 1970s, revisionists began to tell a different story about American economic expansion ("imperialism") as a cause of the Cold War.

In this book, Gaddis presents a narrative that takes both sides of this debate seriously. He does not write in an "academic" style but aims instead at the general reader. This is the essential post-revisionist history of the Cold War, though he and many others have updated the history after the opening of Soviet archives in the 1990s.

It's a good read, and I highly recommend it despite its age.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outdated but still a important work, November 25, 2011

By 

Robi Sen "robi" (falls church, va, usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The United States and the Origins of the Cold War (Paperback)

While the idea that numerous factors such as economics, world events, and local politics affect United States policy decisions, such as in the case of the Cold War, is a common idea today it was decidedly uncommon line of argument in 1973 when a then new scholar, John Lewis Gaddis, proposed it as his main argument for his now classic The United States and the Origins of the Cold War: 1941-1947. While Gaddis' book is now somewhat out of date, especially with the number of Soviet documents that came to light during the 1990's, it still remains an important work for historians and lay readers alike.

What is so interesting about Gaddis' book is that it was one of the first post-revisionist works that looked at US policy towards the Soviet Union from numerous dimensions. Gaddis incorporates revisionist theories of economics; although he points out they are too limited to explain the Cold War, while at the same time putting them in context by describing how US leaders truly believed they would help bring lasting peace (page 20). Yet Gaddis goes far beyond revisionist theory in his argument clearly showing how not only personality quirks, bureaucracy, and other forces helped shaped US policy. An excellent example by Gaddis is his demonstration of the effect of religious organizations, such as the Catholic Church which was strongly anti-communist, on local US politics (page 52-53). In specific he describes how some politicians, especially Republicans, took advantage of Catholic, especially Polish Catholic, distaste for the Russians and Communism (page 146). Gaddis also points out how individuals and policy missteps also helped generate the Cold War. Gaddis describes how President Truman, who initially decided to follow Roosevelt's approach to negotiation with the Soviets, was influenced by W. Averell Harriman and others to adopt a tougher stance with the Russians over Poland and the Yalta Agreements (page 204-206). The resulting conflict between Truman, and his new get tough approach, and Molotov set the stage for an American reversal in cooperation with the Soviets leading to escalating tensions on both sides (page 356).

Gaddis does not definitively answer if the Cold War could have been avoided, to be fair one would have to be suspect of such a answer, but does suggest that better relations could have come from the US opening a second front in 1943, provided more generous loan terms, or been more open about its atomic monopoly. Then again as Gaddis points out these options were most likely not possible with the political climate in the United States. That being said Gaddis does a fine job showing how Truman was able to guide American attitudes towards a more hostile confrontational approach to the Soviet Union and this suggest that if politicians had so whished the converse would have been true (page 146). Regardless Gaddis work, even if outdated, is insightful, well written, and holds value for students of the Cold War today.

10 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authoritative Work on the Origins of the Post WWII Cold War, April 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The United States and the Origins of the Cold War 1941-1947 (Hardcover)

Gaddis eloquently addresses the causes of the Cold War. Gaddis discusses the policy of the Truman administration and how a "get tough" policy led to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.