The Cold War

A New History

By: John Lewis Gaddis

Narrated by: Jay Gregory, Alan Sklar

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

It began during World War II, when American and Soviet troops converged from East and West. Their meeting point, a small German city, became part of a front line that solidified shortly thereafter into an Iron Curtain. It ended in a climactic square-off between Ronald Reagan's America and Gorbachev's Soviet Union. In between were decades of global confrontation, uncertainty, and fear.

Drawing on new and often startling information from newly opened Soviet, Eastern European, and Chinese archives, this thrilling account explores the strategic dynamics that drove the Cold War, provides illuminating portraits of its major personalities, and offers much fresh insight into its most crucial events. Riveting, revelatory, and wise, it tells a story whose lessons it is vitally necessary to understand as America once more faces an implacable ideological enemy.

©2006 John Lewis Gaddis (P)2013 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"Thrilling....An utterly engrossing account of Soviet-U.S. relations from WWII to the collapse of the U.S.S.R....A new, concise narration was Gaddis's aim here, and he succeeds royally." ( Publishers Weekly)

understanding action, reaction, philosophies abd the need for strength and clarity .

did not describe in detail the impact of such events as the airlift and how modern communication put the lie to communist representation s of economic parity.

Short, easy to listen, but ultimately not enough.

I was hoping for something a bit juicier, but this is a very shallow overview of the Cold War that would suffice for a sophomore high school level class. There wasn't really any analysis. John Lewis Gaddis provided the basic facts and some conclusions, but there really wasn't enough meat to the writing.

I guess that's the nature of the book that Gaddis set out to write. He wrote a quick look into the Cold War, but at such a short length it left me unsatisfied.

Would it were longer

This is the definitive BRIEF history of the Cold War and well worth the listen. Unfortunately, 8 hours is not long enough for a comprehensive treatment of the era. Would it approached such classics as The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich in scope and depth ... the horrors and impact certainly warrant it.

Like Being In Class

Reading on the Cold War is like being in class, but without pop quiz and midterm. The book is detail, but not dry and boring. I always wanted to know what happened during the Cold War. This book had enough fact to keep me listening.

Excellent review of the Cold War

Hits the many factors at play in the Cold War without becoming tedious or superfluous. Analysis was interesting, too. The narrator was an excellent voice for this book.

Dan Carlin does a good summary

For a brief(er) version of this story, you can check out Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast

Solid Overview

Great refresher or introduction. The book covers everything that you need for a basic understanding. It balances causation, explanation and analysis well. Not a dry listen either.

A start for people clueless about the Cold War

This book is a summary of major ideas and events. It is does not delve deep into any specific aspect of the so-called “war”. To say this book covers a lot would be a drastic understatement. A quick summary of the material Dr. John Lewis Gaddis addresses in this might be the following: 50 years of US and soviet relations; the rise of three super powers; the fall of the USSR; the rise and fall of ideas such as détente, M.A.D., and their eventual collapse; the Korean & Vietnam war; the covert wars of the Cold War; the rise and fall of political leaders in the USA, USSR, China, and other countries. Dr. Gaddis covers a lot in a very limited amount of words.

I recommend this book to people who have limited or no understanding of the Cold War. After reading or listening to this, readers will generally understand the conflict and be able to narrow their focus. I know after I finished reading this book I had a much better appreciation for how unstable the US political system could look to those outside of it, the political gains of the Nixon administration, and the comparative progressiveness of Gorbachev to other soviet leaders.

If this book is used as an introduction into Cold War material, readers will be highly satisfied with the material, but if a reader is hoping for a in-depth analysis of any specific aspect of the conflict I feel they will find themselves wanting more.

Every American should read this book

The Cold War was essentially over before I became an adult (or at least before I became interested in the past) and I never appreciated how it has left its mark on modern America and the world. This fascinating and well researched history has kept my head spinning thinking about all of the ways my life could have been different if just a few things unfolded differently than they did. It also gave me lots of insight into how complex the decisions were around several of the topics I have very strong (but previously not very well informed) opinons on: nuclear proliferation, the Vietnam War, Ronald Reagan & defense spending, China, and the list goes on.

This book does have some flaws, but they are limited and easy to overlook. Gaddis is no doubt one of the world's greatest scholars on the subject, but a few times it felt a bit too American and capitalist-oriented and leaned a bit towards hero-worship in some of the leaders he deems responsible for ending the Cold War. This certainly did not detract from the enjoyment of the book, just a bit surprising from what I had anticipated would be an impartial and skeptical history.

overall excellent, but...

I actually wish the authors more in depth works were on audible. This is really well told hisotry and well read, but the author aims this at his students who did not live through this period, and states this is a summary of a lot of research, his and others. I would prefer a much deeper analysis/hisotry of the period, but what is there is great.