The Cold War: An International History

by David S. Painter

The Cold War dominated international relations for forty-five years. It shaped the foreign policies of the United States and the Soviet Union and deeply affected their societies, domestic situations and their government institutions. Hardly any part of the world escaped its influence.

David Painter provides a compact and analytical study that examines the origins, course, and end of the Cold War. His overview is global in perspective, with an emphasis on the Third World as well as the contested regions of Asia and Central America, and a strong consideration of economic issues. He includes discussion of:

the global distribution of power the arms race the world economy.
The Cold War gives a concise, original and interdisciplinary introduction to this international state of affairs, covering the years between 1945 and 1990.

Genres: History, School, College

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 20, 1999

About the author

David S. Painter (born 1948) is an emeritus associate professor of international history at Georgetown University. He is a leading scholar of the Cold War and United States foreign policy during the 20th century, with particular emphasis on their relation to oil.

Reviews

[Christopher Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid 1,000 foot view of the cold war and the major political players and motivations. Mikhail Gorbachev came off as a hero in this book, willing to ignore the excesses of the Reagan administration and focused on winding down the areas of conflict. It takes a great leader to wind down an empire's affairs versus deciding to go out nihilistically with a bang.

The U.S. actions in central and south America remain a source of shame to this day as the government's desire to prop up military dictatorships to avoid the potential of a Cuba situation resulted in many millions of deaths and needless suffering especially in Nicaragua.

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5⭐

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broad overview of the cold war that focused mostly on foreign affairs and the interaction between the US & the Soviet Union, either directly, or through other countries. Book was straightforward in that it couldn't be comprehensive enough to cover anything else which I appreciated. Contained some statistics that made my eyes glaze over--I didn't think any would be necessary in a book this brief.