The Marshall Plan

Dawn of the Cold War

By: Benn Steil

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

“[A] brilliant book…by far the best study yet” (The Wall Street Journal) of the gripping history behind the Marshall Plan and its long-lasting influence on our world.

In the wake of World War II, with Britain’s empire collapsing and Stalin’s on the rise, US officials under new Secretary of State George C. Marshall set out to reconstruct western Europe as a bulwark against communist authoritarianism. Their massive, costly, and ambitious undertaking would confront Europeans and Americans alike with a vision at odds with their history and self-conceptions. In the process, they would drive the creation of NATO, the European Union, and a Western identity that continue to shape world events.

Benn Steil’s “thoroughly researched and well-written account” (USA TODAY) tells the story behind the birth of the Cold War, told with verve, insight, and resonance for today. Focusing on the critical years 1947 to 1949, Benn Steil’s gripping narrative takes us through the seminal episodes marking the collapse of postwar US-Soviet relations—the Prague coup, the Berlin blockade, and the division of Germany. In each case, Stalin’s determination to crush the Marshall Plan and undermine American power in Europe is vividly portrayed. Bringing to bear fascinating new material from American, Russian, German, and other European archives, Steil’s account will forever change how we see the Marshall Plan.

“Trenchant and timely…an ambitious, deeply researched narrative that…provides a fresh perspective on the coming Cold War” (The New York Times Book Review), The Marshall Plan is a polished and masterly work of historical narrative. An instant classic of Cold War literature, it “is a gripping, complex, and critically important story that is told with clarity and precision” (The Christian Science Monitor).

Winner of the 2019 New-York Historical Society Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize in American History
Winner of the 2018 American Academy of Diplomacy Douglas Dillon Award
Shortlisted for the 2018 Duff Cooper Prize in Literary Nonfiction
Honorable Mention (runner-up) for the 2019 ASEEES Marshall D. Shulman Prize

Excellent history

A fine and important work... New York Times' review is an excellent summary of the book. Recommended.

Definitive History

This book offers the definitive history of the most enduringly successful piece of American Foreign Policy. The early portion demonstrates how what is today considered a forgone conclusion as an arduous political coup in Congress by the Truman Administration. The final chapter also offers a terrific summary of its impact on the present.

Very Detailed History

This is a really good history of the Marshall Plan and of the post-war era. It is very detailed. The book is a little ponderous in places because of the amount of detail. However, it picks up and ends up being pretty interesting. My advice: Be prepared for the detail, but stick with it!

Russian Xenophobia is a self-fulfilling prophesy.

The Marshall Plan by Benn Stell addresses the traditional view of how Western Europe was saved by the Marshal Plan. Depending one's perspective, either from the United States or Russia, it is the first shot in the Cold War or a response to the first shot. It can be disconcerting to hear actions by the United States described as American Imperialism by the Russians.

While Stell brings out Stalin's desire to use the nation's making up the lands taken by Russians during World War II as cushions against western aggression, one cannot but recall the stories of Moscow is the Third Rome or Marx's vision that World Communism is an inevitability. Stell uses the concern of Soviet expansion into Greece and Turkey, Russian desires for warm water ports and direct access to the Mediterranean since Peter the Great. He does not mention Churchill's dirty agreements, granting Russian spheres of influence, England keeps Greece at the cost of Poland.

Henry Kissinger today and various Truman advisors who created the Marshall Plan warned of Russia's traditional interest and desire for the Ukraine, wanting to if not to outright rule the country, at least the finlandization of Ukraine. Because of the domination of Eastern Europe by Russia, those countries fear or loath Russia and rightfully so, at least from their perspective, want to be a member if NATO. Stell continuing refers to America's proding of former Warsaw Pact nation to join NATO without discussing the desire by those European nations. Because of Russia's paranoia, it has treated the nation's boarding her as subservient, she has created her own enemies. Find a map of Europe in 1910, try to find Poland. There is very little difference between the Romanovs, the Bolshevicks and Putin.

The book looks behind the screen of a plan and an era which brought America out of its traditional isolationism and how xenophobia becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy, much like paranoia. It is well worth a listen.

Marshall Plan made America most powerful nation

Written with incredible insight. The stories take you behind the scenes into the conversations and motives of the players, during a period which shaped the western world as anyone alive knows it. The personalities are both larger than life and very human. The narration is read with understanding and intelligence. Undoubtedly, (and perhaps unwittingly,) the Marshall Plan made America most powerful nation in the world.