The Cold War: History in an Hour

By: Rupert Colley

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour.

From the end of World War Two to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the world lived within the shadow of the Cold War. Russia and America eyed each other with suspicion and hostility. World War Two was too recent to be forgotten and a nuclear Third World War remained a distinct possibility. Post-war Europe was being rebuilt and Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt had to find a way to work together for peace.

The Cold War: History in an Hour will help you understand the dynamics of the politics of the time and how Europe and the rest of the world rebuilt themselves after World War Two.

©2012 Rupert Colley (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘If the past is a foreign country, History in an Hour is like a high-class tour operator, offering delightfully enjoyable short breaks in the rich and diverse continent of our shared past’ Dominic Sandbrook

‘The practice of History is ever-evolving, and the History In An Hour idea brings it back up to date for the digital age’ Andrew Roberts, Bookseller

‘This is genius’ MacWorld.com

Fine introduction

A fine, short introduction to the Cold War. There are things missing, but a solid one-hour intro.

USA vs. USSR - The Great Showdown!

I’m really enjoying these short quick reads that give a detailed yet fascinating overview of history in this great series of books “History in an Hour”. This one talks about the Cold War and surprisingly goes into a good amount of details in the short amount of time that it dedicates to the topic.

I learned a lot about The Cold War itself and the era and time that all of the heightened tensions between two world superpowers took place back in the 60’ and 70’s.

I highly recommend the book to anyone who has an interest in history, politics, global strategies that have taken us from there to here.

Pulls the war into a cohesive whole

Having lived through this war as a child and young adult, this was a good read to draw everything together into a cohesive whole. I can now look back and see the connection between different events during this time period. Because this war was never declared as a "real" war, it is difficult to give a connected play by play interpretation of events, but the author does a good job of giving an understandable overview.

The narrator does an excellent job-he is British and with his dry sense of humor actually had me laugh aloud once or twice over his droll interpretation.

This book would be helpful to anyone wanting some background info before reading a book taking place during this time period or a book going into more detail on any aspect of this war.

Consice overview

Good overview of the various parts of the cold war. Narrator could use instruction on pronouncement of some of the names at points i struggled to figure out who he was speaking of and only having previous knowledge saved me.

A good intro into a complex subject

Good overview or intro of the cold war. many unexpected anecdotes. this is a starting point to help guide those just starting their studies of the cold war.

Nice

Informative & Entertaining !
This lecture series has been great. Always holds my interest, never dull.
Short and sweet.

My review

Some innacurracies. For instance president Ceaușescu was arrested the very day he fled the Central Commetee building and not 3 days later.

A good brief history

If you want an overview of the cold war, the leaders and events that mattered, the countries whose fates were connected; this is where to start. A narrative that covered the period and explains the sequence of events in Europe, formation of West and East Germany and a whole lot more.