Reviewing the Cold War: Approaches, Interpretations, Theory

by Odd Arne Westad

This volume takes stock of where new materials from China, the former Soviet Union and Europe have taken us in our understanding of what the Cold War was about and how we should study it.

Genres: History

382 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Odd Arne Westad, FBA, is a Norwegian historian specializing in the Cold War and contemporary East Asian history. He is currently the ST Lee Professor of US-Asia Relations at Harvard University, teaching in the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Reviews

[Sergei Solovev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although somewhat not up-to-date (the book was published in 2000, and, just as it had back then predicted, much insightful and relatively innovative scholarship has since followed), this publication provides an excellent account of the debate surrounding the Cold War, an area of study that remains unrivaled in polarizing public opinion, with regards to both the historiographical and the ideological discourse. Odd Arne Westad is able to construct a sort of a 'narrative of ideas' throughout the book, with texts written by historians of various schools of thought directly or indirectly polemicizing with each other. The book is made accessible for the general audience by Westad's commentary which expounds the concepts used and outlines different trends in interpreting the Cold War, both in history and IR theory. Thus, the book, supplied with rich bibliography, would be a great starting point for anyone interested in the Cold War, but wishes to go beyond bare facts and learn about the perspectives and developments in this intriguing and (as recent events have shown) ever relevant field of study.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love reading about the Cold War, but this was a tough one, very dense. It is a compilation of the different theoretical approaches to interpreting the Cold War. Not too much zip.