The end of the Cold War makes it possible, for the first time, to begin writing its history from a truly international perspective, one reflecting Soviet, East European, and Chinese as well as American and West European viewpoints. In a major departure from his earlier scholarship, John Lewis Gaddis, the pre-eminent American authority on the United States and the Cold War, has written a comprehensive comparative history of that conflict from its origins through to
its most dangerous moment, the Cuban missile crisis. We Now Know is packed with new information drawn from previously unavailable sources; it also reflects the findings of a
new generation of Cold War historians. It contains striking new insights into the role of ideology, democracy, economics, alliances, and nuclear weapons, as well as major reinterpretations of Stalin, Truman, Khrushchev, Mao, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. It suggests solutions to long-standing puzzles: Did the Soviet Union want world revolution? Why was Germany divided? Who started the Korean War? What did the Americans mean by "massive retaliation"? When did the Sino-Soviet split begin? Why
did the U.S.S.R. send missiles to Cuba? And what made the Cold War last as long as it did? This is a fresh, thought-provoking and powerfully argued reassessment of the Cold War
by one of its most distinguished historians. It will set the agenda for debates on this subject for years to come.
Industry Reviews
The author, who has been writing about the Cold War for more than 20 years, synthesizes documents and scholarly literature, much of it drawing on material housed in foreign archives, to provide American, European, Soviet, and Chinese viewpoints on the conflict...The book's ten chapters deal with the following topics: the American and Soviet struggle for Europe, Asia, and the Third World; nuclear weapons; the division of Germany; the economic and ideological
nexus of various state alliances; nuclear weapons and Cold War escalation; and the Cuban missile crisis./Sage Publications.
It is thought-provoking and informative, fraught with observations inviting the reader to evaluate, to object and to assess./The Journal of Strategic Studies September 1998.
Gaddis' accomplishments as a Cold War historian need little in the way of advertisement. He writes provocatively and brilliantly...These accounts, taking the story of the Cold War up to 1963, are intrinsically valuable and provide welcome short-cuts to the student./John Dumbrell/American Studies 32/1.
history at its best and most accessible. It elegantly surveys key episodes up to the Cuban Missile Crisis...Gaddis unearthed some startling new facts./Gary Kent/Tribune Friday 4th December 1998.
`within his self-set limits, Gaddis shows unquestionable mastery ... massively reinforced by Soviet and Chinese material, he gives us an overview that, if not definitive, is certainly magisterial and is unlikely, in essence, to be challenged for many years.'
Sir Michael Howard, Times Literary Supplement
`His new study makes excellent use of the end of superpower confrontation ... The author has deployed his usual very clear, well-structured style ... this is an impressive, valuable and compelling study. It succeeds in establishing itself as the best general analysis of the first twenty five years or so of the Cold War, as the first text for any serious student of the topic.'
Michael F Hopkins, Contemporary Review
`within his self-set limits, Gaddis shows unquestionable mastery ... massively reinforced by Soviet and Chinese material, he gives us an overview that, if not definitive, is certainly magisterial and is unlikely, in essence, to be challenged for many years'
Times Literary Supplement
`His new study makes excellent use of the end of superpower confrontation ... The author has deployed his usual very clear, well-structured style ... this is an impressive, valuable and compelling study. It succeeds in establishing itself as the best general analysis of the first twenty five years or so of the Cold War, as the first text for any serious student of the topic.'
Contemporary Review
An interesting and well-informed interpretations, sometimes burdoned by over- interpretations and a somewhat naive re- discovery of moral dimensions of the cold war.
`An important work, where some of the revelations are stunning, the general argument fascinating and the literary style brilliant.'
NOD and Conversion
