Cold War - About | Reader's Guide

Cold War: Almanac presents a comprehensive overview of the Cold War, the period in history from 1945 until 1991 that was dominated by the rivalry between the world's super-powers, the United States and the Soviet Union. The Almanac covers the origins of the Cold War, including the fierce divisions created by the differences between American democracy and capitalism and Soviet communism; the key programs and treaties, such as the Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift, and Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI); how the general public coped with the rivalry and consequent nuclear buildup; government changes designed to make society feel more secure; the end of the Cold War, brought about by the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the dissolution of the Soviet Union; and the aftereffects of the Cold War, still felt in the twenty-first century.

Coverage and features

Cold War: Almanac is divided into fifteen chapters, each focusing on a particular topic or time period, such as the origins of the Cold War, the beginning of the nuclear age, the arms race, espionage, anticommunist campaigns and political purges on the home fronts, détente, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Airlift and the Berlin Wall, the Korean and Vietnam wars, and the ending of the Cold War. Each chapter contains three types of sidebars: "Words to Know" and "People to Know" boxes, which define important terms and individuals discussed in the chapter; and boxes that describe people, events, and facts of special interest. Each chapter concludes with a list of additional sources students can go to for more information. More than 140 black-and-white photographs and maps help illustrate the material.

Each volume of Cold War: Almanac begins with a timeline of important events in the history of the Cold War; "Words to Know" and "People to Know" sections that feature important terms and people from the entire Cold War era; and a "Research and Activity Ideas" section with suggestions for study questions, group projects, and oral and dramatic presentations. The two volumes conclude with a general bibliography and a subject index so students can easily find the people, places, and events discussed throughout Cold War: Almanac.

U•X•L Cold War Reference Library

Cold War: Almanac is only one component of the three-part U•X•L Cold War Reference Library. The other two titles in this set are:

• Cold War: Biographies (two volumes) presents the life stories of fifty individuals who played key roles in the Cold War superpower rivalry. Though primarily a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Cold War is a story of individual personalities that critically influenced the direction of the rivalry at various crossroads and in different regions of the world. Profiled are well-known figures such as Joseph Stalin, Harry Truman, Nikita Khrushchev, Henry Kissinger, John F. Kennedy, Mao Zedong, and Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as lesser-known individuals such as physicist and father of the Soviet atomic bomb Igor Kurchatov, British foreign minister Ernest Bevin, and longtime U.S. foreign policy analyst George F. Kennan.
• Cold War: Primary Sources (one volume) this book tells the story of the Cold War in the words of the people who lived and shaped it. Thirty-one excerpted documents provide a wide range of perspectives on this period of history. Included are excerpts from presidential press conferences; addresses to U.S. Congress and Soviet Communist Party meetings; public speeches; telegrams; magazine articles; radio and television addresses; and later reflections by key government leaders.
• A cumulative index of all three titles in the U•X•L Cold War Reference Library is also available.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Catherine Filip, who typed much of the manuscript. Much appreciation also goes to copyeditor Jane Woychick, proofreader Wyn Hilty, indexer Dan Brannen, and typesetter Marco Di Vita of the Graphix Group for their fine work.

Dedication

To Aaron and Kara Hanes, that their children may learn about the events and ideas that shaped the world through the latter half of the twentieth century.

Comments and suggestions

We welcome your comments on Cold War: Almanac and suggestions for other topics to consider. Please write: Editors, Cold War: Almanac, U•X•L, 27500 Drake Rd., Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331-3535; call toll free: 1-800-877-4253; fax to 248-699-8097; or send e-mail via http://www.gale.com.