The Cold War: A World History

Odd Arne Westad's The Cold War: A World History is a difficult book to review because it is so good. It is well-conceived, well-researched, lucidly written and argued, and reflective of the many decades of Westad's ongoing engagement with the subject of the Cold War in its many facets. It is hard to imagine another scholar writing a massive, 700-page synthesis of the Cold War with the talents and accomplishments that Westad brings to the subject. He knows the history and culture of both the Soviet Union and China and has a firm grasp of Russian and Chinese. Originally from Norway, Westad possesses the kind of sensitivity to the division of Europe, the central “act” of the Cold War, that sometimes eludes both U.S. and Russian scholars. He has been involved with U.S. and British scholarship for many decades, was one of the earliest participants in the Woodrow Wilson Center's...