The Modern Scholar: Cold War: On the Brink of Apocalypse

By: David Painter

Narrated by: David Painter

The devastating US atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki not only brought World War II to an end, but effectively gave birth to the Cold War. The postwar world would thereafter be marked by the fragile relationship of two superpowers with opposing ideologies: the United States and the Soviet Union.

For 45 years, these two superpowers would vie for supremacy in world politics. The Cold War, defined by events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, turmoil in the Third World, and the arms race, held the potential for an apocalyptic confrontation that could have spelled doom for the human race. Understanding the Cold War, with all of its far-reaching, global implications, is absolutely essential to our understanding of the history of the second half of the 20th century and beyond.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2005 David S. Painter (P)2005 Recorded Books

Decent history until the 80's

The professor is clearly anti-Reagan. His claim that the military build-up in the 80's prolonged the Cold War rings hollow. He seems to believe Gorbachev won the Cold War. Odd.

Not a scholarly book

I was extremely disappointed with this book. I thought it would be a historic book about the cold war but it was rather an American perspective on it. The professor discusses in detail throughout the book about how America struggled to gain power and what were the circumstances in America at the time. He also talked extensively about America's superiority to the Russians and gave a lot of excuses about the crimes committed by America to maintain it's status and prestige at the time. Knowing all too well what happened in some of those cases this book seemed to be more of a propaganda book than anything else.
I would have rather listened to a more neutral perspective about all the countries involved and their struggle as well. Sorry but I don't think this book is worth the money at all.