Cold War Crucible

by Elizabeth W. Hazard

Using recently declassified military intelligence records, State Department files of the OSS and the Strategic Service Unit and the diaries of key participants, the book focuses the diplomatic initiatives and clandestine operations used by the U.S. Americans to assert political influence and counter Soviet power in the region.

258 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 1996

Reviews

[Isaac Hazard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't pretend that this is an unbiased review. The author is my mother and parts of the book focus on the activities of my grandfather who I never met. The book is my mother's doctoral dissertation which I confess has gone unread these past 20+ years. I have finally willed myself, not normally a history buff, to read it and am so happy I did.

Cold War Crucible is a dense but readable political history - documenting the evolution of the relationship between the USA/UK and the USSR as WWII drew to a close and the Cold War began. The lens this study looks through is the political machinations of these 3 world powers in Romania from 1943-53. Much of the source material was newly available at the time due to FOIA and the declassification of a number of state dept. documents. Due to her family relationship with one of the key US intelligence operatives in the region she was also able to secure a number of candid interviews with an impressive array of power brokers in U.S., UK and Rumania.