A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev

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Univ of North Carolina Press, Feb 1, 2009 - History - 504 pages
In this widely praised book, Vladislav Zubok argues that Western interpretations of the Cold War have erred by exaggerating either the Kremlin's pragmatism or its aggressiveness. Explaining the interests, aspirations, illusions, fears, and misperceptions of the Kremlin leaders and Soviet elites, Zubok offers a Soviet perspective on the greatest standoff of the twentieth century. Using recently declassified Politburo records, ciphered telegrams, diaries, and taped conversations, among other sources, Zubok offers the first work in English to cover the entire Cold War from the Soviet side. A Failed Empire provides a history quite different from those written by the Western victors. In a new preface for this edition, the author adds to our understanding of today's events in Russia, including who the new players are and how their policies will affect the state of the world in the twenty-first century.

 

Contents

1 The Soviet People and Stalin between War and Peace 1945
1
2 Stalins Road to the Cold War 19451948
29
3 Stalemate in Germany 19451953
62
4 Kremlin Politics and Peaceful Coexistence 19531957
94
5 The Nuclear Education of Khrushchev 19531963
123
A section of illustrations appears after page
155
First Cracks 19531968
163
7 Brezhnev and the Road to Détente 19651972
192
8 Détentes Decline and Soviet Overreach 19731979
227
9 The Old Guards Exit 19801987
265
10 Gorbachev and the End of Soviet Power 19881991
303
Epilogue
336
Notes
345
Bibliography
417
Index
455
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

Vladislav M. Zubok is associate professor of history at Temple University. He is coauthor of Anti-Americanism in Russia: From Stalin to Putin and Inside the Kremlin's Cold War: From Stalin to Khrushchev.

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