Cold War Europe by Mark Gilbert
This compelling history explores the conflict that defined world politics for decades. Focusing on European actors and events, Gilbert emphasizes the Cold Wars central role in the postwar development of the continent. Fast-paced and readable, this political, intellectual, and social history illuminates a conflict that continues to resonate.
The inhabitants of the ‘common European house’ seem once again to be dividing into two camps: those who live in free, prosperous and secure societies, and those who are subject to manipulation, repression and, above all, neglectIn that context, Mark Gilbert’s concise history of how Europe lived through the Cold War and its end from 1945 to 1992 provides a welcome opportunity to refresh recollections and reflect on parallels and differences. . . .Along the way, Gilbert skilfully develops a few major themes. . . with an eye for gripping detail. * Survival: Global Politics and Strategy *
Mark Gilbert writes with clarity and verve, and the story he tells is a dramatic, Europe-wide one that embraces both Western and Eastern European countries. This allows him to reveal the deeper social and economic layers of the Cold War conflict as it played out across the continent, on both sides of the Iron Curtain. -- Anne Deighton, University of Oxford
The book illuminates an important and sometimes forgotten aspect of the conflict. . . . Gilbert’s analysis demonstrates the centrality of European actors to a variety of Cold War events. * Journal of Contemporary History *
Mark Gilbert writes with clarity and verve, and the story he tells is a dramatic, Europe-wide one that embraces both Western and Eastern European countries. This allows him to reveal the deeper social and economic layers of the Cold War conflict as it played out across the continent, on both sides of the Iron Curtain. -- Anne Deighton, University of Oxford
In this valuable account of the Cold War as European history, Mark Gilbert provides a crisp introduction to the politics of European governments and parties— East and West—in a divided continent. Thus he retrieves, and reclaims, the Europeans’ own agency in the Cold War—for good and bad. The paradoxical conclusion of this wide-ranging international history of politics is that the historic defeat of Soviet communism is ultimately premised on economics, on the superior efficacy of capitalism upon the socialist command economy. -- Federico Romero, European University Institute
This outstanding overview of the huge and complex history of the Cold War puts Europe back where it belongs, at its very center, as this was not a bipolar contest between two superpowers. With immense erudition, Mark Gilbert presents a beautiful narrative and well-balanced analysis, giving due importance to actors and developments on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Gilbert brings events to life in snapshots, with colorful references to films, novels, and art that capture the essence of this huge ideological conflict. A powerful evocation of an era. -- Beatrice Heuser, University of Reading
Mark Gilbert writes with clarity and verve, and the story he tells is a dramatic, Europe-wide one that embraces both Western and Eastern European countries. This allows him to reveal the deeper social and economic layers of the Cold War conflict as it played out across the continent, on both sides of the Iron Curtain. -- Anne Deighton, University of Oxford
The book illuminates an important and sometimes forgotten aspect of the conflict. . . . Gilbert’s analysis demonstrates the centrality of European actors to a variety of Cold War events. * Journal of Contemporary History *
Mark Gilbert writes with clarity and verve, and the story he tells is a dramatic, Europe-wide one that embraces both Western and Eastern European countries. This allows him to reveal the deeper social and economic layers of the Cold War conflict as it played out across the continent, on both sides of the Iron Curtain. -- Anne Deighton, University of Oxford
In this valuable account of the Cold War as European history, Mark Gilbert provides a crisp introduction to the politics of European governments and parties— East and West—in a divided continent. Thus he retrieves, and reclaims, the Europeans’ own agency in the Cold War—for good and bad. The paradoxical conclusion of this wide-ranging international history of politics is that the historic defeat of Soviet communism is ultimately premised on economics, on the superior efficacy of capitalism upon the socialist command economy. -- Federico Romero, European University Institute
This outstanding overview of the huge and complex history of the Cold War puts Europe back where it belongs, at its very center, as this was not a bipolar contest between two superpowers. With immense erudition, Mark Gilbert presents a beautiful narrative and well-balanced analysis, giving due importance to actors and developments on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Gilbert brings events to life in snapshots, with colorful references to films, novels, and art that capture the essence of this huge ideological conflict. A powerful evocation of an era. -- Beatrice Heuser, University of Reading
Mark Gilbert is resident professor of international history at SAIS Europe, the Bologna Center of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He is the 2018 Chair of Jury for the Cundill History Prize.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781442219854 |
| ISBN 10 | 1442219858 |
| Title | Cold War Europe |
| Author | Mark Gilbert |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Rowman & Littlefield |
| Year published | 2014-12-18 |
| Number of pages | 338 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |