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The Cold War

By: Odd Arne Westad
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Summary

As Germany and then Japan surrendered in 1945, there was a tremendous hope that a new and much better world could be created from the moral and physical ruins of the conflict. Instead, the combination of the huge power of the USA and USSR and the near-total collapse of most of their rivals created a unique, grim new environment: the Cold War.

For over 40 years the demands of the Cold War shaped the life of almost all of us. There was no part of the world where East and West did not ultimately demand a blind and absolute allegiance and nowhere into which the West and East did not reach. Countries as remote from each other as Korea, Angola and Cuba were defined by their allegiances. Almost all civil wars became proxy conflicts for the superpowers. Europe was seemingly split in two indefinitely.

Arne Westad's remarkable new book is the first to have the distance from these events and the ambition to create a convincing, powerful narrative of the Cold War. The book is genuinely global in its reach and captures the dramas and agonies of a period always overshadowed by the horror of nuclear war and which, for millions of people, was not 'cold' at all: a time of relentless violence, squandered opportunities and moral failure.

This is a book of extraordinary scope and daring. It is conventional to see the first half of the 20th century as a nightmare and the second half as a reprieve. Westad shows that for much of the world, the second half was by most measures even worse.

©2017 Odd Arne Westad (P)2018 Audible, Ltd
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What listeners say about The Cold War

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A very interesting book

I found this book interesting from start to finish. The narration was excellent, which helped. I would definitely recommend.

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Fascinating

Fascinating, well written and accessible.

Great narrator clear and easy to listen to.

Thoroughly recommended!

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world history

detailed account of life during the cold war not easy to recognise if you lived during it

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An excellent summary of the Cold War

Well written and narrated. So much information and a huge amount I did not know, even having lived through a lot of this period.

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Fascinating

I got this is on a bit of a whim, not expecting much - and it blew me away. At times it necessarily skips over fine details, but as a single volume analysis it is intresting, thought provoking and brilliantly written

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Brilliant

A fantastically detailed account of the Cold War with so many insights that I had no idea about.

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Brilliant book

Great and concise overview of the key aspects of the Cold War and their influence over much of the world post WW1/WW2. Really enjoyed it.

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A Tough Subject Delivered Well.

We travelled the world witnessing conflict after conflict all in the name of supremacy of Political Power and humiliation of the subject ed population!

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Excellent listen.

Very much enjoyed the whole book with the narration just right. As someone whose been around since the very late 50’s, the book provides the background to the Cold War as well as detailing the headlines and highlights one recalls. Not in any way heavy reading... surprisingly.

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Easy to digest

Easy to. Listen and very clear. Would recommend to anyone for a brief update and getting the big picture of cold war

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