Cold War: An Illustrated History, 1945-1991

by Jeremy Issacs, Taylor Downing

This illustrated narrative history, spanning the rise of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, is the companion the major 24-episode documentary airing on CNN, and around the world, beginning in the fall of 1998. 600 illustrations, 100 in color. 7 maps.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction

438 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1998

Reviews

[Benjamin Wetmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, it's a coffee table book, maybe I should have lower expectations.

This isn't really 'history' - it's more a very general narrative framing of a whole period of history in the most monotone and dry storytelling possible. It's reminiscent of a war veteran who details his payroll processing and meals, and can't focus on the battles, the drama, the excitement.

The book tries to make up for its school textbook style writing with vivid photographs, but several are either out of place, or I found out later, had been flipped in the negative for one reason or another. There's a picture at Yalta in the book, with the big three seated, and it just looked off, and sure enough they had flipped it. This is a minor thing, but it represents a certain textbook-dishonesty to the many controversies of the topic.

There aren't moderates on questions like Alger Hiss. You either believe he was a spy, or that he was an innocent man who suffered a great injustice. There's no middle ground on the Rosenbergs, either. As well, there are many who have no middle ground for Communism: you either believed or worked to their ends, or you were in opposition and ultimately doing the work of the capitalists. Communism was an idea, and ideas can't be easily conquered. The Cold War was the geopolitical and physical manifestation of these competing systems, these competing ideas, and there were no moderates. You either helped Moscow, or Washington.

What was missing in this book, and in its parent product of the CNN documentary, was more explanation and exposition about these ideas and their competing nature. The philosophy of the various systems are almost subsumed in the minutiae of almost silly anecdotes strewn throughout the book. It also ignores the question of how many died in the Soviet system, both from executions and as possibly official starvation/famine policy.

The book covers that which are 'safe' topics, free from major political divisiveness today. So you don't get much about the Holomodor, except to say that "the West didn't know!" Which isn't true. And you get passing references to the Gulag system, and I don't believe Kolyma is referenced once. The KGB is documented, but its roots in the Cheka from the very start of the regime are very lightly touched. Was Allende executed or did he kill himself? The book suggests the former but briefly says the latter is also possible.

The topic is enormous, and perhaps any book of this sort is going to take some criticism no matter what. But there were so many opportunities to annotate some of their simplifications with just another sentence of context, to explain a controversy, or at least just admit to the reader that some of these issues have vicious opinions on both sides decades later.

[RebL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as illustrated as I had hoped, this book is billed as the companion volume to the 1998 24-episode CNN docuseries of the same name, and I envisioned more of a coffee-table-type book and less of a history-textbook-type book. And because I had discovered the title while searching for books on American home fallout shelters, I had hoped it would be a little less geopolitical and more family-oriented, like how did people LIVE through the Cold War. This book is not that.

But, textbook-like though it may be, it is certainly a fascinating volume for anyone interested in 20th century global politics. It's not just the Cold War, it's the Cold War Years. I especially enjoyed the Berlin portion of the book, both the part with the wall going up and then later the part with the wall coming down, and the part about the failed Soviet coup of 1991, which I remember following on the news.

Would recommend to any 20th century history buff who likes textbooks. And, if somone were to happen to find a reasonably priced used copy of this book I'd be happy to receive it for Christmas and stack it next to my Russian history books and copy of "Die Mauer Spricht".

[Esha Nas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it well enough, but it felt...whats the word...on the face? Not on the nose. Primer like. I will root through its listed bibliography, I feel, to get more specifics; sources and footnotes wouldn't had been amiss. But as a overview, not bad. Shows how pathetic the Soviets were, but also the desperation and sins of the Yanks, though some stuff we know now as Operation Gladio are mentioned by second-hand. A greater focus could had been had on places like, say, Brazil and South America and Indonesia, which often felt glossed over despite their conflicts being often intertwined with or gotten the blessing of and support of the big two....

[Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a big book full of lots of good information on the cold war and the events that led up to it. What I like about this book is that it wasn’t just row upon row of information that it actually had pictures and histories on the people not just the events. This book gave me a look into the past to see what it was like back then and to learn of the problems that people faced during the cold war. Over all I found it very informative on the subject of the Cold War.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

YES! What can I say about this book? I loved. Well written and researched. My cold war fix was quenched with this book. I saw it at my favourite used book store and snatched it up faster than an SR-71 flying over enemy territory. Anyone who's interested in learning more about the cold war should pick this book up.

[Rob]

Lots of awesome pictures. I think I bit off more than I could chew when I checked it out of the library. I'll be circling back on this one though. Looks like a great starting point for some of the Cold War-era research that I want to do.

[Jeff Rosendahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it's a coffee-table book, it's a great single volume history of the cold war that goes the whole distance from 1945-1989. There's plenty of interesting stories and information, as well as great pictures. Highly recommended for people with interest in the cold war.

[Mausam Bharati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantabulous...Tornado of information and an engrossing, unflinching and irresistible read.

[Tue Le · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot of history from this solidly reliable book. Images were well-placed and relevant to the discussion, making everything more lively and comprehensible.