The World of the Cold War

Why are there so few gripping histories of the Cold War? Many standard accounts are sensationally boring. This book is much better: brisk, spiky and unafraid to make provocative judgements… Zubok makes you think – Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Thorough and timely… Drawing on years of research, and informed by three decades in the USSR followed by three decades in the West, Zubok paints a striking new portrait of a world on the brink * Spectator *Compelling and timely * Observer *Monumental and still highly readable… by smartly knitting together the past with the present, Zubok’s book brings a prescient and fresh perspective * Financial Times *Short, readable… Zubok’s new narrative is a welcome corrective to Gaddis’ triumphalist, US-centred history… A helpful primer for those seeking to understand the past that made our present * History Today *Immensely scholarly, and its sweep is considerable… Zubok has complete command of his narrative, based on a deep knowledge of his subject * Telegraph *Always sensible… Makes comprehensible a Russian perspective on a key question of 20th-century history that we generally see only from the American side – Sheila Fitzpatrick * London Review of Books *A masterful study, which should be read by everyone interested in contemporary international history – Odd Arne WestadThis provocative, comprehensive, and insightful analysis not only incorporates the latest scholarship but is also remarkably lucid and accessible. Students will be enlightened; experts will be challenged to reassess their thinking. This volume is a major contribution – Melvyn P. LefflerVladislav Zubok’s accomplishments eminently qualify him to write this epic and exciting reconsideration of Cold War history. Along with new information from Soviet archives is a compelling interpretation of how capitalism itself, not just geopolitics, was changed by the Cold War - with consequential ramifications for our time – Samuel Moyn

Vladislav Zubok is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of several books, including Collapse and A Failed Empire, and is the recipient of the Lionel Gelber Prize and the Marshall Shulman Prize, as well as a finalist for the Cundill Prize.