jjares reviewed The Cold War: A Captivating Guide to the Tense Conflict between the United States of America and the Soviet Union Following World War II on + 3275 more book reviews
Although I lived through the Cold War, it was less obvious than reading about it in a continuous stream. Captivating History says it succinctly: "The Cold War was a polarizing epoch that split the world into two camps. You were either a communist or not." (p. 12) This is the interesting story behind the alliances that emerged during and after WWII.
Here are a couple of snippets from this book that I found particularly valuable to my understanding of this whole concept. Immediately after WWII, the Allies disbanded many thousands of soldiers to return home but the Soviets did not. This made the Allies particularly vulnerable if the Soviets decided to attack their former Allies. Since the Americans had nuclear weapons by this time, leaving bombers in Europe served as a deterrent to Soviet aggression.
My husband and his family were in Japan immediately after WWII and my father-in-law was very busy with American fighter planes, especially after the Korean War began. It is logical, but I wasn't aware that the US deployed its planes from Japan to fight the North Koreans. With Japan's dramatic post-war economic boom, they served as a seawall against the growth of communism in East Asia.
Captivating History makes an interesting observation that the Space Age began during WWII when "Germans launched a V-2 rocket outside the earth's atmosphere." (p. 18) After telling how the German scientists came to work for either the Americans or the Soviets, this book tells some of the lesser-known stories about unsuccessful flights.
Thank you for such a succinct, clear explanation of the creation of Israel. It clarified so much that came after in the Middle East. France's past in Vietnam was also murky until I read this book. I'll never forget when the US and the Soviets decided to rattle their sabers over Cuba; it was choir-night (a Wednesday) at our Houston church but the church was standing-room-only. People were really frightened that we were going to nuclear war.
Another marvelous snippet of history was the "East African Cold War;" I wasn't aware of Somalia and Ethiopia's history at all. Ben Shapiro's quote about the only time America cut their defense budget ... and what it cost, was priceless. Actually, all of the chapter-opening quotes were pithy. If you can't tell, I thought this was one of the best Captivating History books this year. The explanations and historical connections were fascinating. I read this in a single sitting because I couldn't set it aside.
Here are a couple of snippets from this book that I found particularly valuable to my understanding of this whole concept. Immediately after WWII, the Allies disbanded many thousands of soldiers to return home but the Soviets did not. This made the Allies particularly vulnerable if the Soviets decided to attack their former Allies. Since the Americans had nuclear weapons by this time, leaving bombers in Europe served as a deterrent to Soviet aggression.
My husband and his family were in Japan immediately after WWII and my father-in-law was very busy with American fighter planes, especially after the Korean War began. It is logical, but I wasn't aware that the US deployed its planes from Japan to fight the North Koreans. With Japan's dramatic post-war economic boom, they served as a seawall against the growth of communism in East Asia.
Captivating History makes an interesting observation that the Space Age began during WWII when "Germans launched a V-2 rocket outside the earth's atmosphere." (p. 18) After telling how the German scientists came to work for either the Americans or the Soviets, this book tells some of the lesser-known stories about unsuccessful flights.
Thank you for such a succinct, clear explanation of the creation of Israel. It clarified so much that came after in the Middle East. France's past in Vietnam was also murky until I read this book. I'll never forget when the US and the Soviets decided to rattle their sabers over Cuba; it was choir-night (a Wednesday) at our Houston church but the church was standing-room-only. People were really frightened that we were going to nuclear war.
Another marvelous snippet of history was the "East African Cold War;" I wasn't aware of Somalia and Ethiopia's history at all. Ben Shapiro's quote about the only time America cut their defense budget ... and what it cost, was priceless. Actually, all of the chapter-opening quotes were pithy. If you can't tell, I thought this was one of the best Captivating History books this year. The explanations and historical connections were fascinating. I read this in a single sitting because I couldn't set it aside.
