Cold War: An Illustrated History, 1945-1991 (Hardcover)

~ Jeremy Issacs (Author), Taylor Downing (Author) "The noose was tightening around Berlin, the capital of Hitler's so-called Thousand Year Reich..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Soviet Union, Cold War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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 Bolshevik's 1917 Russian Revolution. The book then takes on the cold war proper, from the post-WWII rise of the Iron Curtain to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet government in the early '90s. "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 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.

From Booklist

Libraries that see heavy demand for tie-in volumes when PBS and BBC historical documentaries hit the air should expect interest in this lavishly illustrated history of the cold war, which accompanies a 24-episode series that CNN will broadcast this fall. The British producers are credited as the book's authors; they acknowledge the aid of "an international panel of distinguished historians." The text incorporates some recent scholarship based on newly available Soviet and U.S. documents; it opens with a description of the U.S.S.R.'s history from 1917 to 1945, then traces the sources and consequences of East-West confrontation from the late 1940s through the fall of the Berlin Wall. The hundreds of photos and other illustrations will bring back vivid memories for those who lived through those decades, but the volume may be most valuable for readers too young to remember armed struggles in Berlin, Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam or catchphrases like Iron Curtain, de tente, and mutually assured destruction. Mary Carroll

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 438 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company; 1st edition (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316439533
• ISBN-13: 978-0316439534
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #657,571 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 46 years in the making, I guess, May 20, 2002

By	Christopher A. Horan "ROBOCOP ROBOCOP" (Iraq :() - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everyone and their brother has released a book on World War II. Or any other period in history, for that matter. The Vietnam and Korean wars, its all been told a thousand times. But few books that I've ever found in general circulation cover the broad topic of the entire Cold War. Issacs and crew cover the period with as much detail as possible in such a complicated and even sometimes confusing period of time. They do a superb job, with each chapter covering a specific feature of the Cold War, such as the Cuban Missle crisis and more interesting, though less known of events. Issacs provides a very objective viewpoint, and makes reading Cold War: An Illustrated History not so much as a chore as some history books can be.
The pictures provided are really good, and provide many pictures of the key players in the game of chess that was played on Earth throughout the decades.
I rather enjoyed the various side bars presented throughout the book, each one touching upon various aspects of the Cold War, such as spies, or even entertainment.
If you have any interest in the Cold War, or are just plain curious as to what made the world what it is now, this is your best place to start. Buy it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellant general read on a complex period in history..., April 26, 2001

By	Thomas Moody (STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're looking for general history on the 40 to 50 year period known as the "Cold War", than this book along with the CNN program "Cold War" is for you...contrary to a few of the other reviewers, I liked this book in it's general state and I would not want to extoll my opinions concerning morality here. I'm sure that there are other books that would welcome that type of review, but this book is just for the general history reader and presented in a fabulous format! Maps, color photograhs and charts along with clear and interesting prose make this an excellant "launching pad" to the struggle and to other more detailed views. Highly recommended.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars reader from the desert, February 13, 2001

By A Customer

In contrast to the views of the reviewer below this is a VERY objective book. The U.S./CIA Cold War activities resulted in the support and establishment of murderous dictatorships in Latin America which were every bit as cruel/oppressive as those of our Communist enemies. There was also the unjust war we waged in Vietnam which killed over a million people. Finally there was the CIA/American backed coup which resulted in the murder of the ELECTED president of Chile, Allende, and the establishement of the dictator Pinochet who is now being prosecuted for mass murder. This book addresses these and other issues instead of using the recent right wing Reagonite rhetoric which equates the U.S. as a benevolent force of freedom as opposed to those evil Communists. The book, while covering many topics and areas related to the cold war, is clearly written and informative. The fantastic illustrations only add to this books appeal. It is time American citizens realize the Cold War was NOT a battle between freedom and tyranny but an amoral conflict between diametrically opposed economic systems struggling to control world markets and resources.