A Brief History of the Cold War

Brief Histories

By: John Hughes-Wilson

Narrated by: Philip Franks

The Cold War was an undeclared war, fought silently and carefully between ideological opponents armed with the most fearsome weapons mankind has ever seen. Hughes-Wilson takes a cool look at this war, from the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 to the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the USSR thereafter.

He examines the suspicion and paranoia -- on both sides -- of the greatest stand-off in history. Written by one of Britain's leading, popular, military historians, this book makes accessible for the first time one of the key periods to shape our world.

©2006 John Hughes-Wilson (P)2014 Audible Ltd

Informative

Good factual stuff about the cold war .
But dwells a bit too much on the
American perspective, not too much about other NATO members

Good overview of USA v USSR Cold War.

Very good overview of Cold War between USSR and the USA, and the UK. Only a little on Communist China though, more focused on former Soviet Union, with Eastern Europe v. the US and NATO. Definitely worth the time if you like the subject of the Cold War.

An informative listen

For a casual learner of history, I found this an easy to follow and easy to understand history of the Cold War.
My only criticism is that it is not strictly chronological in order, and when presenting certain aspects of the war jumped between multiple decades within minutes, and assumes the reader remembers the names and positions of key people, which if listened over the space of a few weeks is not possible for most listeners.
I would recommend this to most listeners

A bit one sided

I got the impression that the author was very pro American and his take reflected that.

A plus

A very insightful overview of the Cold War that keeps the reader intrigued. Exactly what the title suggests.