Facing the Bear by Trevor Royle

Facing the Bear by Trevor Royle

Between the end of the Second World War and the collapse of Communism confrontation with the Soviet Union was an everyday reality. As part of Nato’s response, Scotland played a key role in the alliance’s forward maritime defence strategy, aimed at containing the Soviet threat from naval and air forces. During this period 10 per cent of the UK’s naval and air forces were based in Scotland, and there was a substantial US presence as well as top secret satellite and command stations. In this book Trevor Royle paints a fascinating portrait of this extraordinary period, examining not just the wider military and political contexts, but also showing how the defence industry brought huge economic benefits, how CND maintained a high-profile presence, and how anti-nuclear sentiments underpinned much of the left’s thinking in Scotland and contributed to the hegemony enjoyed by the Labour Party in Scotland during the Cold War.

'Projects a big picture, tracing the cold war across the UK and beyond'

* Yorkshire Post *

'Engrossing… Like a military commander at the top of his game, Royle marshals his material to maximum effect to show how Scotland has been shaped by, and also helped shape, the Cold War, which began in 1945 and ended after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989He ranges far and wide and has that rare talent to marry the local with the geopolitical… But this is not not simply a story of military hardware and confrontation. Royle is very interesting on how the Cold War influenced our cultural life from the novel to poetry and the protest song'

-- Barclay McBain * The Herald *

Trevor Royle is a broadcaster and author specialising in the history of war and empire. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is also a member of the Scottish Government’s Advisory Panel for Commemorating the First World War.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781780275260
ISBN 10	1780275269
Title	Facing the Bear
Author	Trevor Royle
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Birlinn General
Year published	2019-08-08
Number of pages	368
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.