The World of the Cold War

Thorough and timely… as we face a new period of strategic realignments, it’s inevitably to the dynamics of the Cold War we must look for a mirror of our times… 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 *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 *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, and aimed at a broad audience… Zubok’s new narrative is a welcome corrective to Gaddis’ triumphalist, US-centred history… It will serve as a helpful primer for those seeking to understand the past that made our present * History Today *Compelling and timely * Observer *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… Make(s) 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 *Among the scholars writing about the history of Soviet/ Russian foreign policy, Vladislav Zubok is one of the most distinguished. We are fortunate that he has now turned his attention to writing an overall account of the Cold War. This 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 MoynFrom Moscow’s liberal intelligentsia, distinguished for decades in British and American academia, Vladislav Zubok brings relevant experience and perceptive scholarship to this finely judged retelling of the Cold War. It’s a pleasure to read – Rodric Braithwaite

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.