Cold wars and proxy conflicts Books

Book SynopsisDonald Raleigh''s Soviet Baby Boomers traces the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transformation of Russia into a modern, highly literate, urban society through the fascinating life stories of the country''s first post-World War II, Cold War generation. For this book, Raleigh has interviewed sixty 1967 graduates of two magnet secondary schools that offered intensive instruction in English, one in Moscow and one in provincial Saratov. Part of the generation that began school the year the country launched Sputnik into space, they grew up during the Cold War, but in a Soviet Union increasingly distanced from the excesses of Stalinism. In this post-Stalin era, the Soviet leadership dismantled the Gulag, ruled without terror, promoted consumerism, and began to open itself to an outside world still fearful of Communism. Raleigh is one of the first scholars of post-1945 Soviet history to draw extensively on oral history, a particularly useful approach in studying a country where the boundTrade Reviewambitious and thought-provoking. * Stefan B. Kirmse, Europe-Asia Studies *This is the first known Soviet oral history study by a Western scholar. ... Raleighs study is fascinating, providing a unique and nostalgic portrayal of the everyday life of the Soviet post-Stalin generation from the late Khrushchev era to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The book is full of fresh insights and interesting ideas. * Sergei I. Zhuk, Slavonic and East European Review *[Donald J. Raleigh] has created a sophisticated and nuanced cultural history. His book, eschewing cliché about the necessary and inevitable stasis of Russian society or its long-term yen for authoritarianism, at the same time puts forward thought-provoking, and at times unexpected, material about the lasting and deep impact of the late Soviet era on the present day. * Catriona Kelly, English Historical Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The Real Nuclear Threat: Soviet Families in Transition ; 2. Overtaking America in School: Educating the Builders of Communism ; 3. "Unconscious Agents of Change": Soviet Childhood Creates the Cynical Generation ; 4. The Baby Boomers Come of Age ; 5. Living Soviet during the Brezhnev-Era Stagnation ; 6. "But then everything fell apart": Gorbachev Remakes the Soviet Dream ; 7. Surviving Russia's Great Depression ; Conclusion: "It's they who have always held Russia together" ; Notes ; Appendix ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisMohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, is often remembered as a pliant instrument of American power during the Cold War. In this book Roham Alvandi offers a revisionist account of the shah''s relationship with the United States by examining the partnership he forged with Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. Based on extensive research in the British and U.S. archives, as well as a wealth of Persian-language diaries, memoirs and oral histories, this study restores agency to the shah as an autonomous international actor and suggests that Iran evolved from a client to a partner of the United States under the Nixon Doctrine. Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah offers a detailed account of three key historical episodes in the Nixon-Kissinger-Pahlavi partnership that shaped the global Cold War far beyond Iran''s borders. First, the book examines the emergence of Iranian primacy in the Persian Gulf as the Nixon administration looked to the shah to fill the vacuum created by the BTrade ReviewRoham Alvandi's Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah does exactly what it promises in its title. The book is an excellent insight into the interactions between the three aforementioned figures in what was a pivotal period of US, Iranian, and Cold War history. Alvandi's skill is writing in such a way as to appeal to the specialist and non-specialist alike. He weaves through a deep history, placing his triumvirate of characters in context without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail, and delivers a highly readable and effective study. * Stephen McGlinchey, E-International Relations *lively, clear and entertaining writing. This is indeed a useful, highly recommendable book that may attract specialists in international relations, Iranian affairs and US political history, as well as the general reader. * David Sarias Rodriguez, History *a major contribution to recent scholarship on the global history of the Cold War ... Alvandi's account of the process and its consequences is the fullest and most revealing to date. * David S. Painter, American Historical Review *Alvandi's commendably clear style and approach serves to highlight and articulate an argument ... redefining the relationship between Iran and the United States away from the popular orthodoxy of the patron-client relationship ... Alvandi takes a refreshing look at a relationship that has long been considered both the high tide of USIran relations and the roots of its eventual collapse. * Ali M. Ansari, English Historical Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Introduction ; 1. The United States and Iran in the Cold War ; 2. "Protect Me": The Nixon Doctrine in the Persian Gulf ; 3. Iran's Secret War with Iraq: The CIA and the Shah-Forsaken Kurds ; 4. A Ford, Not a Nixon: The United States and the Shah's Nuclear Dreams ; Conclusion ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisThe first study of the everydayness of political life under Stalin, this book examines Soviet citizenship through common practices of expressing Soviet identity in the public space. The Stalinist state understood citizenship as practice, with participation in a set of political rituals and public display of certain civic emotions serving as the marker of a person''s inclusion in the political world. The state''s relations with its citizens were structured by rituals of celebration, thanking, and hatred-rites that required both political awareness and a demonstrable emotional response. Soviet functionaries transmitted this obligation to ordinary citizens through the mechanisms of communal authority (workplace committees, volunteer agitators, and other forms of peer pressure) as much as through brutal state coercion. Yet, the population also often imbued these ceremonies-elections, state holidays, parades, mass rallies, subscriptions to state bonds-with different meanings: as a popular fTrade ReviewIn this imaginative and meticulously documented study, Serhy Yekelchyk describes the world of 'civic emotions' in postwar Kyiv, in the process opening a window onto the lived experience of ordinary citizens. Written by one of North America's premier historians of modern Ukraine and the Soviet Union, this book makes a signal contribution to the historiography on late Stalinism as well as serving as a pioneering work on Soviet citizenship and the often all-encompassing world of public space and ritual within the Soviet Union. * Lynne Viola, author of The Unknown Gulag: The Lost World of Stalin's Special Settlements *Stalin's Citizens presents a fascinating analysis of the public lives of ordinary men and women under Stalin. Serhy Yekelchyk's close examination of government ceremonies and public events reveals the communal fabric of Soviet society which amalgamated the political and the personal. * Hiroaki Kuromiya, author of Voices of the Dead: Stalin's Great Terror in Ukraine *Using postwar Kyiv as his setting and privileging everyday practices of expressing Soviet identity rather than state policies, Serhy Yekelchyk makes discriminating use of the archival and published sources to detail and thereby reveal the performative essence and symbolic meaning of Stalinist citizenship. A work of profound insight and sophistication, yet accessible and always engaging, Stalin's Citizens is certain to generate spirited discussion and become required reading for anyone interested in understanding the Soviet way of life in the wake of total war. * Donald J. Raleigh, author of Soviet Baby Boomers: An Oral History of Russia's Cold War Generation *Stalin's Citizens reaffirms Serhy Yekelchyk's reputation as one of the leading specialists on Ukraine under Stalin. His study of Soviet elections, holiday celebrations, Communist Party agitators and their campaigns joins a growing literature that explores the practice of politics and citizenship in authoritarian states, and highlights the role of public participation in rituals and the articulation of 'civic emotions.' It also challenges the emerging scholarship on 'Soviet subjectivities.' Stalin's Citizens is based on extensive work in still little researched archives in Ukraine. * Mark von Hagen, Arizona State University *Both these very successful and enjoyable books deserve a wide readership among specialists in Soviet and post-1945 European history. Their fluent and accessible presentation, combined with the interesting questions they raise and the engaging material they deploy, make them very suitable too for students on higher-level courses. * Mark B. Smith, Slavonic and East European Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: The Civic Duty to Hate ; Chapter 2: Stalinism as Celebration ; Chapter 3: A Refresher Course in Sovietness ; Chapter 4: The Toilers' Patriotic Duty ; Chapter 5: Comrade Agitator ; Chapter 6: Election Day ; Epilogue ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisThis first biography of Nicolas Nabokov (1903-78) reevaluates the role of the Russian-born American composer as a postwar cultural force, notably as secretary general of the Congress for Cultural Freedom in the 1950s and 1960s, and the contribution to twentieth-century music of this collaborator of Diaghilev, Stravinsky, and Balanchine.Trade ReviewConductor, author, translator, multi-lingual cosmopolite, Nicolas Nabokov was one of the most versatile intellectuals of the past century. Vincent Giroud, a brilliant musicologist and Nabokov's very first biographer, narrates his subject's multi-faceted life with unusual clarity and vigor. * Francine du Plessix Gray *They just don't make cultured, quadrilingual, cosmopolitans of this sort anymore. Nicolas Nabokov managed to hit every artistic and intellectual high note of the 20th century, missing no one, from Auden and Balanchine to Virgil Thomson and Edmund Wilson. The genius went equally into the life and the music; Vincent Giroud elegantly captures both in his joyous, star-studded, beautifully modulated biography. - Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Vera: (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)Nicolas Nabokov is our most famous unknown composer. At last there is a book that sheds light on this extraordinary composer's life and work. * Ned Rorem, composer and author *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Introduction ; Note on transliteration of Russian names and phrases ; Chapter 1: The Lubcza Years ; Chapter 2: The Petersburg Years ; Chapter 3: The Road to Exile ; Chapter 4: In Stuttgart and Berlin ; Chapter 5: Paris Debuts ; Chapter 6: Successes and Frustrations ; Chapter 7: New Exile ; Chapter 8: Engagement and Americanization ; Chapter 9: In Wartime Washington ; Chapter 10: In Postwar Germany ; Chapter 11: Music and the Cold War ; Chapter 12: Moving Center Stage ; Chapter 13: Masterpieces of the Twentieth Century ; Chapter 14: Culture Generalissimo ; Chapter 15: The Rasputin Years ; Chapter 16: Disenchantment and New Departure ; Chapter 17: Berlin, Don Quixote, and the CIA ; Chapter 18: Love's Labours Won ; Epilogue ; Checklist of Nabokov's Works and Writings ; Works Consulted ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisRussia is justly famous for its vodka. Today, the Russian average drinking man consumes 180 bottles of vodka a year, nearly half a bottle a day. But few people realize the enormous-and enormously destructive-role vodka has played in Russian politics.In Vodka Politics, Mark Schrad reveals that almost every Russian ruler has utilized alcohol to strengthen his governing power and that virtually every major event in Russian history has been tinged with alcohol. The Tsars used alcohol to dampen dissent and exert control over their courts, while the government''s monopoly over its sale has provided a crucial revenue stream for centuries. In one of the book''s many remarkable insights, Schrad shows how Tsar Nicholas II''s decision to ban alcohol in 1914 contributed to the 1917 revolution. After taking power, Stalin lifted the ban and once again used mandatory drinking binges to keep his subordinates divided, fearful, confused, and off balance. On such occasions, a drunken Khrushchev routinelyTrade Reviewa powerful critique of the effect of the levels of vodka consumption and of government policy ... this book has real value ... [which] principally lies in its laying bare the effects of excessive vodka drinking on the course of development of Russian society and the responsibility of the Russian state in allowing this to develop * Graeme Gill, Australian Journal of Politics and History *Schrad is an engaging writer. He ranges across Russian history with ease, zeroing in on countless striking anecdotes and developing his story within a competent and well-researched narrative. The author brings to bear vast scholarly literature as well as published and unpublished (including archival) primary sources ... Vodka Politics draws upon vast research, tells a lot of great stories, and advances a provocative thesis. * Jonathan Daly, American Historical Review *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction ; Chapter 2: Vodka Politics ; Chapter 3: Cruel Liquor-Ivan the Terrible and Alcohol in the Muscovite Court ; Chapter 4: The Weird World of Peter the Great ; Chapter 5: Russia's Empresses: Power, Conspiracy, and Vodka ; Chapter 6: Murder, Intrigue, and the Mysterious Origins of Vodka ; Chapter 7: Why Vodka? Russian Statecraft and the Origins of Addiction ; Chapter 8: Vodka and the Origins of Corruption ; Chapter 9: Vodka Domination, Vodka Resistance ; Chapter 10: The Pen, the Sword, and the Bottle ; Chapter 11: Drunk at the Front: Alcohol and the Imperial Russian Army ; Chapter 12: Nicholas the Drunk, Nicholas the Sober ; Chapter 13: Did Prohibition Cause the Russian Revolution? ; Chapter 14: Vodka Commies ; Chapter 15: Industrialization, Collectivization, Alcoholization ; Chapter 16: Vodka and Dissent in the Soviet Union ; Chapter 17: Gorbachev and the (Vodka) Politics of Reform ; Chapter 18: How Vodka Politics Killed the USSR, and Why That's Not Funny ; Chapter 19: Ladies and Gentlemen: Boris Yeltsin ; Chapter 20: Alcohol and the Demodernization of Russia ; Chapter 21: The Russian Cross ; Chapter 22: The Rise and Fall of Putin's ChampionChapter 23: Medvedev Against History ; Chapter 24: An End to Vodka Politics?

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Book SynopsisCommunism Unwrapped is a collection of essays that unwraps the complex world of consumption under communism in postwar Eastern Europe, featuring new work by both American and European scholars writing from variety of disciplinary perspectives. The result is a fresh look at everyday life under communism that explores the ways people shopped, ate, drank, smoked, cooked, acquired, exchanged and assessed goods. These phenomena, the editors argue, were central to the way that communism was lived and experienced in its widely varied contexts in the region. Consumption pervaded everyday life far more than most other political and social phenomena. From design, to production, to retail sales and black market exchange, Communism Unwrapped follows communist goods from producer to consumer, tracing their circuitous routes. In the communist world this journey was rife with its own meanings, shaped by the special political and social circumstances of these societies. In examining consumption behindTrade ReviewThe essays are consistently readable and insightful, and the editors' introductions to each section help guide readers along the contours of the book's major themes. Highly recommended. * CHOICE *This rich collection of essays offers a unique look at post-1945 Eastern Europe. Departing from the Cold War narrative of endemic shortages and the gloominess of daily life under communism, the essays highlight the everyday creativity and agency of ordinary people. We follow Eastern Europeans to hard-currency stores and gated communities. We see them cross borders to shop in better-supplied neighboring countries and navigate complex social networks to obtain goods and favors. Situating these stories in the context of transnational modernity rather than a totalizing party state, the book offers a rare combination of new research and a compelling theoretical insight. * Malgorzata Fidelis, University of Illinois at Chicago *Consumerism in Eastern Europe has become a fertile field for exploring the dreams and delusions of state socialist politics, as well as the agency and resourcefulness of its citizens. Bren and Neuburger's pioneering volume brings together a range of rich and surprising case studies from across the whole region, significantly enriching our understanding of Eastern European social history during the Cold War. * Paul Betts, University of Sussex *[Bren and Neuburger] provide a valuable and detailed backdrop to a history of places where sausage stands for abundance and bulldozed parmesan symbolises crushed hopes for freedom. * Contemporary European History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Contributors ; Introduction- Paulina Bren and Mary Neuburger ; I. Living Large: Introduction ; 1 Tuzex and the Hustler: Living It Up in Czechoslovakia- Paulina Bren ; 2 Utopia Gone Terribly Right: Plutonium's "Gated Communities" in the Soviet Union and the United States- Kate Brown ; 3 "Knife in the Water": Competitive Consumption in Urbanizing Poland- Kacper Poblocki ; II. Quality Control: Introduction ; 4 The Taste of Smoke: Bulgartabak and the Manufacturing of Cigarettes and Satisfaction- Mary Neuburger ; 5 Risky Business: What Was Really Being Sold in the Department Stores of Socialist Eastern Europe?- Patrick Hyder Patterson ; 6 Material Harmony: The Quest for Quality in Socialist Bulgaria, 1960s-1980s- Rossitza Guentcheva ; III. Kitchen Talk: Introduction ; 7 Eating Up Yugoslavia: Cookbooks and Consumption in Socialist Yugoslavia- Wendy Bracewell ; 8 Grounds for Discontent? Coffee from the Black Market to the Kaffeeklatsch in the GDR- Katherine Pence ; 9 From Black Caviar to Blackouts: Gender, Consumption, and Lifestyle in Ceausescu's Romania- Jill Massino ; IV. To Market, To Market... : Introduction ; 10 The "Socialist Bourse": Alcohol, Reputation, and Gender in Romania's Second Economy during the 1980s- Narcis Tulbure ; 11 The Extraordinary Career of Feketevago Ur: Wood Theft, Pig-killing, and Entrepreneurship in Communist Hungary, 1948-1956- Karl Brown ; 12 Keeping It Close to Home: Resourcefulness and Scarcity in Late Socialist and Post-Socialist Poland- Malgorzata Mazurek ; V. Constructive Criticism : Introduction ; 13 Kids, Cars, or Cashews?: Debating and Remembering Consumption in Socialist Hungary- Tamas Dombos and Lena Pellandini-Simanyi ; 14 The House that Socialism Built: Reform, Consumption and Inequality in Postwar Yugoslavia- Brigitte Le Normand ; 15 Shop Around the Bloc: Trader Tourism and its Discontents on the East German-Polish Border- Mark Keck-Szajbel ; Index

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Book SynopsisThe first history of the people at the center of Cold War thought and politics: America's Russia expertsTrade ReviewThe extraordinary range and depth of Engerman's research and the narrative arc knitting this book together from start to finish make Know Your Enemy a consummate work of scholarship and historical imagination. Engerman's critical assessment of all the diverse components within academic 'Sovietology' shatters one cliche after another. Soviet Studies never fashioned a single Cold War vision of the USSR and never served simply as an ideological arm of U.S. foreign policy-even when scholars were most closely linked with diplomatic and military operatives. * Howard Brick, University of Michigan *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Knowing the Cold War Enemy ; Part I: A Field in Formation ; 1. The Wartime Roots of Russian Studies Training ; 2. Social Science Serves the State in War and Cold War ; 3. Institution-Building on a National Scale ; Part II: Growth and Dispersion ; 4. The Soviet Economy and the Measuring-Rod of Money ; 5. The Lost Opportunities of Slavic Literary Studies ; 6. Russian History as Past Politics ; 7. The Soviet Union as a Modern Society ; 8. Soviet Politics and the Dynamics of Totalitarianism ; Part III: Crisis, Conflict, and Collapse ; 9. The Dual Crises of Russian Studies ; 10. Right Turn into Halls of Power ; 11. Left Turn in the Ivory Tower ; 12. Perestroika and the Collapse of Soviet Studies ; Epilogue: Soviet Studies after the Soviet Union ; Essay on Sources

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Book SynopsisThe Soviet Union was the largest state in the twentieth-century world, but its repressive power and terrible ambition were most clearly on display in Europe. Under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union transformed itself and then all of the European countries with which it came into contact. This book considers each aspect of the encounter of Stalin with Europe: the attempt to create a kind of European state by accelerating the European model of industrial development; mass murder in anticipation of a war against European powers; the actual contact with Europe''s greatest power, Nazi Germany, during four years of war fought chiefly on Soviet territory and bringing untold millions of deaths, including much of the Holocaust; and finally the reestablishment of the Soviet system, not just in the reestablished Soviet system, but in the Baltic States, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and East Germany. The contributors take up not just high politics but also theTrade ReviewStalin and Europe continues a process of reorientation that seeks to incorporate Eastern European and Russian history into European history. The issue of Stalinism and its place in Europe is a particularly treacherous challenge, which this volume resolves in a series of probing essays that explore the Soviet Union's paradoxical relation to the rest of Europe. A diverse group of historians on Germany, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union presents the results of voluminous, recent research on the subject. They are an important reminder, and provide ample food for thought, on Russia as a force in European history. * Michael Geyer, University of Chicago *I read this fascinating, lively collection through from beginning to end in one sitting. That speaks highly for the quality and the challenges that each of the pieces offers. The contributions are primarily from top national and international experts in the field, including a number of rising stars and scholars from Central Europe. All of the essays are grounded in the archives and based on original research. The volume features a variety of methods, perspectives, and approaches, from newer social history to more traditional military and diplomatic history. The collection as a whole reminds us of the seamless transition from the 1930s in the Soviet Union, into war and conquest, and on into the Cold War. * Robert Gellately, author of Stalin's Curse: Battling for Communism in War and Cold War *Table of ContentsContributors ; Introduction: Soviet History and European History- Timothy Snyder ; 1. The Gulag and Police Colonization in the Soviet Union- Lynne Viola ; 2. The Sino-Kazakh Border and the Kazakh Famine- Sarah Cameron ; 3. Stalin, Espionage, and Counter-Espionage- Hiroaki Kuromiya and Andrzej Peplonski ; 4. The Polish Underground under Soviet Occupation, 1939-1941- Rafal Wnuk ; 5. Soviet Economic Policy in Annexed Eastern Poland, 1939-1941- Marek Wierzbicki ; 6. Lviv under Soviet Rule, 1939-1941- Christoph Mick ; 7. German Economic Plans for the Soviet Union, 1941-1944- Alex J. Kay ; 8. The Holocaust in Ukraine- Dieter Pohl ; 9. Belarusian Partisans and German Reprisals- Timm Richter ; 10. Stalin's Wartime Vision of the Peace, 1939-1945- Geoffrey Roberts ; 11. The Consolidation of a Communist Bloc in Eastern Europe, 1941-1948- Mark Kramer ; 13. The Tito-Stalin Split and the Reconsolidation of the Bloc, 1948-1953- Mark Kramer ; Index

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Book SynopsisWhat was life really like for East Germans, effectively imprisoned behind the Iron Curtain? This book explores the transformation of East German society from the ruins of Hitler's Third Reich to a modernizing industrial state. It also examines changing conceptions of normality within an authoritarian political system.Trade Review"'... a fresh, flowing, thoughtful account... an immensely readable book... Above all, this empathetic account puts East Germans back into their own history. As such, it will surely act not only as a standard work on GDR society, but also as a model for the emerging social history of post-war Europe.' Josie McLellan, Reviews in History / History in Focus 'One does applaud Mary Fulbrook for writing a book that is extremely rich in detail and one that is certainly different from other works on the German Democratic Republic. It provides an excellent framework for further debate on the pros and cons of the first socialist experiment on German soil.' Peter Hylarides, Contemporary Review"

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Book SynopsisAt the end of World War II, nearly three million Jews were trapped inside the Soviet Union. They lived a paradox - unwanted by a repressive Stalinist state, yet forbidden to leave. This title tells the story of their rescue.

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Book SynopsisTurkish Intelligence and the Cold War examines the hitherto unexplored history of secret intelligence cooperation between three asymmetric partners specifically the UK, US and Turkey from the end of the Second World War until the Turkey's first military coup d''état on 27 May 1960. The book shows that our understanding of the Cold War as a binary rivalry between the two blocs is too simple an approach and obscures important characteristics of intelligence cooperation among allies. Egemen Bezci shows that a pragmatic approach offers states new opportunities to protect national interests, by conducting 'intelligence diplomacy' to influence crucial areas such as nuclear weapons and to exploit cooperation in support of their own strategic imperatives. This study not only reveals previously-unexplored origins of secret intelligence cooperation between Turkey and West, but also contributes to wider academic debates on the nature of the Cold War by highlighting the potential agency Trade ReviewTurkish Intelligence & The Cold War will broaden many readers knowledge of Turkish intelligence. A worthwhile contribution to the literature. * Studies in Intelligence *In April 1957 US Ambassador Fletcher Warren burst into Prime minister Menderes’s cabinet meeting to try and prevent him from taking military action in Syria. Menderes had to make a hard choice. This is one of the more dramatic moments in Egemen Bezci’s new book Turkish Intelligence and the Cold War. * Duvar English *Overall, the book is highly likely to be beneficial for scholars and students who are interested in Cold War history, Middle Eastern history, Turkish history and Intelligence Studies. It focuses on an under-studied topic, challenges the conventional wisdom and makes a significant contribution to the literature. * Middle Eastern Studies *Turkish Intelligence and the Cold War is unique in several ways, it gets us to think about the Cold War from outside the simple binary of the East-West divide, enables us to examine non-Western approaches to espionage and gets us to analyse how weaker powers respond to the asymmetrical relationships. * The New Arab *A useful contribution to the intelligence literature, in particular on the subject of international intelligence cooperation and the role of intelligence in foreign policy. * Intelligence and National Security *Table of ContentsIntroduction - Dark Origins of the Turkish-British-American Alliance 1. Machinery in Comparison 2. Historical Background, 1923-1945 3. (Dis)Trusting your Allies: NATO and CENTO 4. Spies, Atoms and Signals 5. Counter-Subversion: Our Common 'Enemies' 6. Covert Action: The Turks' Hidden Hand in Syria 7. Conclusion: Keeping up with the Alliance 8. Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis'A gripping story filled with remarkable revelations.' Tom Bower, author of RevengeTrade Review'A racy and readable account of a range of Soviet intelligence operations carried out during the Cold War.' -- Telegraph‘An enjoyable read’ -- The Times'Entertaining.' -- Tablet'A gripping story filled with remarkable revelations.' -- Tom Bower, author of Revenge'From honey traps to hit jobs, the plot twists like The Third Man in post-war Vienna. Mark Hollingsworth ably traces the history of active measures from Lenin’s Chekists to the present day. Deeply researched, fluently written and insightful, this book is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the threat Putin’s Russia poses to us here in Britain.' -- Edward Lucas, author of Deception'A valuable account of an important and highly topical subject – Russian intelligence operations against the West… A must-read for anyone wishing to understand the origins of the malign mindset and obsession of Vladmir Putin and his acolytes.' -- Christopher Steele, former MI6 officer in Russia, 1990-93‘Gripping and insightful… We meet an intriguing list of characters through which the Soviets aimed to gain an advantage over the West. Motivated by ideology, or in other cases by money, they are an exotic list whose stories are explored in detail and give the book a feeling of a real-life spy novel… A good read with fascinating insights, Hollingsworth’s book is to be recommended.’ -- Kevan Jones MP, PoliticsHome

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Book SynopsisIn 1950 the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China signed a Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance to foster cultural and technological cooperation. While this treaty was intended as a break with the colonial past, Austin Jersild argues that the alliance ultimately failed because the enduring problem of Russian imperialism led to Chinese frustration with the Soviets.

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Book SynopsisJan Bardsley is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.Trade Review[This] valuable book … will be a great read for both students and scholars of postwar discourses on gender in Japan. * Journal of Japanese Studies *Richly evidenced and engrossing ... This volume provides the reader with an insightful and well researched analysis of gender roles and discussions in post-war Japan, and is a welcome addition to the literature. * English Historical Review *[T]his a fascinating book that offers a compelling look at how the ‘Japanese housewife’ was mobilized in debates over postwar democracy. It will be of great interest to those who study postwar Japanese women’s history and literature. * Japan Forum *The richness and variety of the book’s sources, and the consistently high level of Bardsley’s analysis across multiple textual and visual genres, make her account convincing, informative, and even entertaining ... Women and Democracy in Cold War Japan is an engaging and intellectually stimulating piece of scholarship that will enhance discussions on the history of Japan’s Allied Occupation and of postwar Japan, on gender in modern Japan and in Cold War politics, and on the cultural dimensions of U.S.-Japan relations. * Monumenta Nipponica *Through close readings of popular media—from contentious letters to newspaper editors to debates covered in women's magazines, from tales of flawed fashionistas to satirical cartoons—Women and Democracy in Cold War Japan takes an innovative approach to the gender politics shaping Japan in the 1950s. Jan Bardsley effectively challenges the notion that the liberation of Japanese women was primarily the result of the American occupation of Japan after World War II. In addition, her analysis of the media construction of housewives, princesses, and beauty queens places Japan’s postwar era squarely in the geopolitics of the Cold War. Accessible and provocative, Women and Democracy in Cold War Japan will be a very useful book for classes in gender studies in a variety of disciplines. * Barbara Molony, Professor of History, Santa Clara University, USA *In Women and Democracy in Cold War Japan, Jan Bardsley invites us into a dynamic world of post-WWII Japan where the process of “democratization” initiated by American occupiers has unleashed a series of events and controversies involving women, homes, and nation. Offering fascinating tales of “Kitchen Princess,” “Beauty Queen,” “Real Estate Siren,” and “Desiring Women,” all of whom enlivened the Cold War Japan with their womanly determination and domestic ingenuity, Bardsley gives us an enchanting moment to re-imagine Japan in a manner far more complex and nuanced than ever attempted before. Against the backdrop of constitutional reform, gender democratization, and domestic modernization, Japanese women were historical agents of exceptional complexity, whose sentiments and practices hardly if ever followed any predictable route. Re-introducing women and the home to the center stage of the postwar Japanese history, Bardsley’s book charts a new territory of analysis where richness of archival research is coupled with deftness of storytelling to reward its readers. * Mire Koikari, Associate Professor, Women’s Studies, University of Hawaii, USA *Table of Contents1. Introduction: Tales of the Kitchen Princess 2. Dueling Etiquettes: Mrs. Mogi takes on the Occupationnaires 3. The Housewife Debate of 1955 4. What Women Want: The Postwar Appetite 5. Fashioning the People’s Princess: Shoda Michiko and the Royal Wedding of 1959 6. Japan’s Miss Universe: Beauty Contests and Postwar Democracy 7. From the Housewife’s Kitchen to the Witches' Den: Fantasies of Female Power in Enchi Fumiko’s Masks Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn Every Home a Fortress, Thomas Bishop details the remarkable cultural history and personal stories behind an iconic figure of Cold War masculinity -- the fallout shelter father, who, with spade in hand and the canned goods he has amassed, sought to save his family from atomic warfare. Putting policy documents and presidential addresses into conversation with previously unmined personal letters, diaries, local media coverage, and antinuclear ephemera, Bishop demonstrates that the nuclear crisis years of 1957 to 1963 were not just pivotal for the history of international relations but were also a transitional moment in the social histories of the white middle class and American fatherhood. During this era, public concerns surrounding civil defense shaped private family conversations, and the fallout shelter emerged as a site at which ideas of nationhood, national security, and masculinity collided with the complex reality of trying to raise and protect a family in the nuclear age.Trade Review“Moving beyond the customary view of Cold War civil defense as a monumental failure to mobilize the public, Bishop provides an insightful, fascinating examination of fathers who took action to protect their families from the expected horror of nuclear war.”- David F. Krugler, author of This Is Only a Test: How Washington D.C. Prepared for Nuclear War ; “Bishop does yeoman’s work in bringing nuclear Cold War scholarship into the realm of masculinity and makes a key contribution.”- Robert A. Jacobs, author of The Dragon’s Tail: Americans Face the Atomic AgeTable of Contents Introduction Chapter One The Log Cabin of the Nuclear Age Chapter Two The Fallout Shelter Father on the New Frontier Chapter Three Fatherhood in the Target Zone Building a Fallout Shelter in Colorado Chapter Four Family Room of Tomorrow: Fallout Shelter Salesmen Chapter Five Fatherhood, Survival and Violence at the Shelter Doorway Conclusion Take to the Hills: Fatherhood and Survival in the Nuclear Age and Beyond

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Book SynopsisThis volume showcases new research on the global reach of Latin American revolutionary movements during the height of the Cold War, mapping out the region's little-known connections with Africa, Asia, and Europe. Toward a Global History of Latin America's Revolutionary Left offers insights into the effect of international collaboration on the identities, ideologies, strategies, and survival of organizers and groups.Featuring contributions from historians working in six different countries, this collection includes chapters on Cuba's hosting of the 1966 Tricontinental Conference that brought revolutionary movements together; Czechoslovakian intelligence's logistical support for revolutionaries; the Brazilian Left's search for recognition in Cuba and China; the central role played by European publishing houses in disseminating news from Latin America; Italian support for Brazilian guerrillainsurgents; Spanish ties with Nicaragua's revolution; and the solidarity of European networks with Guatemala's Guerrilla Army of the Poor.Through its expansive geographical perspectives, this volume positions Latin America as a significant force on the international stage of the 1960s and 70s. It sets a new research agenda that will guide future study on leftist movements, transnational networks, and Cold War history in the region.Table of Contents List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Introduction: Globalizing Latin America's Revolutionary Left; Historiography, Approaches, and Context Tanya Harmer and Alberto Martín Álvarez Part I. Latin America's Revolutionary Left in the Age of the Tricontinental 1. Czechoslovakia and Latin America's Guerrilla Insurgencies: Secret Services, Training Networks, Mobility, and Transportation Michal Zourek 2. Revolutionary Diplomacy and the Third World: Historicizing the Tricontinental Conference from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs Blanca Mar León 3. The Brazilian Far Left, Cuba, and the Sino-Soviet Split, 1963: New International Evidence on a Discordant "Struggle for Ascendancy" James G. Hershberg Part II. Latin America's Revolutionary Left and Europe 4. The Italian Communist Party between "Old Comrades in Arms" and the Challenges of the New Armed Left Gerardo Leibner 5. The Influence of Latin America's Revolutionary Left in Europe: The Role of Left-Wing Editors Eduardo Rey Tristán 6. Solidarity and Diplomatic Work of the Guatemalan Revolutionary Movement in Europe: The Case of the Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres (Guerrilla Army of the Poor) Arturo Taracena Arriola 7. Spanish Internationalists in the Sandinista Revolution: An Approach to the Ambrosio Mogorrón Committee (1986–1990) José Manuel Ágreda Portero Afterword: The Americas, North and South Van Gosse List of Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisGermany, spring 1945. Hitler is dead and his armies crushed. Across the conquered Reich, cities lie devastated by Allied saturation bombing; their traumatised populations, exhausted and embittered by defeat, face a future of acute privation and hardship. Such was the broken state of the nation in which a British civilian and military force arrived in the spring and summer of 1945. Their zone of occupation was the northern and northwestern part of Germany, the country’s former industrial heartland. Their task? To build democracy from the ruins of Hitler’s Reich, and, having defeated Nazism on the battlefield, to ‘win the peace’ by eradicating Nazism from German hearts and minds. As well as offering a vivid narrative of the British occupation in political and military terms, from the Potsdam Conference to the Berlin Airlift, Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans explores the day-to-day experiences of the ordinary Britons who worked for the Control Commission for Germany between 1945 and 1949. Some reconstructed bridges and schools, supervised the destruction of military matériel and brought fugitive Nazis to justice; while others became entangled in black marketeering, corruption and sexual scandal. In time, they would find themselves on the front line of the Cold War, as irreconcilable tensions divided Europe between East and West.Trade ReviewImmensely readable ... Cowling expertly navigates his narrative through a post-war Europe of conflicting ideas, difficult decisions, brilliant minds and flawed people -- Katja Hoyer * Daily Telegraph *Candid and illuminating -- Richard Overy * Literary Review *Very readable ... The real strength of the book is in the tiny details that Cowling's painstaking research uncovers -- Glenda Cooper * Mail on Sunday *A gripping account of the post-war period detailing life in the British Zone. The Allies may have won the war but with Germany in ruins and millions homeless, hopeless and starving, would they win the peace? * Julia Boyd, author of A Village in the Third Reich *An endlessly wonderful evocation of the post-War years when we tried, despite the chaos of the times, understandably bitter feelings, and ruinous expense, to create a new, democratic Germany, even as our Empire crumbled around us. It may not have been our finest hour - yet, to the infinite benefit of Europe, we really did win the peace. A clear, grand idea mixed with unforgettable new details make this unputdownable. * James Hawes, author of The Shortest History of Germany *An excellent, vivid, readable social history of the British and their Zone in Post-War Germany. * Giles MacDonogh *The British occupation of Germany after 1945 was sometimes shameful, sometimes heroic, but often just chaotic. Cowling’s brilliantly researched book reveals it all, and must surely become the standard work on the subject. * Keith Lowe *Meticulously researched and skilfully written, Daniel Cowling’s narrative evokes a shattered post-war world in which British men and women were given the herculean task of rebuilding a democratic Germany. As they sought to round-up ex-Nazis, racketeers and corrupt officials, some found themselves drawn to an underworld rife with crime, drunkenness and sex. A ground-breaking account of a little-known period. * Giles Milton, author of Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare *

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Book SynopsisAt the end of the Second World War, it quickly dawned on the West that the defeat of one totalitarian enemy - Hitler''s Germany - had left another, our late ally turned potential foe: Soviet Russia. This official assessment of the Red Army''s strength and standing, published in 1949, is therefore of consuming interest to students of the Cold War. It comprises a history of the Red Army from its formation in 1918 after the Bolshevik Revolution to its triumph in the Second World War. Then follows a section on the army''s command and control structure; notes on its post-war re-organisation; and two long chapters on tactics - including such subjects as tanks, air support; night attacks and artillery. There are more chapters on weapons, equipment, conditions of service, supply and airborne operations. With charts of command structures, and photographs and diagrams of important weapons, this is as complete a snapshot of a potentially hostile enemy force as can be imagined.

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Book SynopsisAfter the proclamation of the Truman Doctrine in 1947, the United States became deeply involved in Greek affairs. By 1952, however, the pro-Western government of Marshal Papagos began to support the nationalist ‘Enosis’ movement in Cyprus and called for an end to British colonial rule in the island. The opposition of the US, Britain and Turkey to these demands brought Greece face-to-face with its closest allies at the United Nations in 1954 and led to the outbreak of the first major crisis within NATO since its creation. Greece and the Cold War examines these developments from the novel perspective of critical international theory and exposes the unexplored connections between dependence and nationalism in Greek foreign policy. Drawing on a wide range of American, British and Greek archival sources, it argues that nationalism and compliance with the collective interests of NATO were two irreconcilable objectives in Greek foreign policy after 1952. At the same time, the book tells the story of how the post-Civil War governments of Greece, for a variety of political, cultural and ideological reasons, treated these two objectives as essentially compatible, resulting in the adoption of a dualist policy. This self-contradictory diplomatic doctrine, which the author refers to as “dependent nationalism”, lies at the heart of Greece’s post-War failures both to emancipate its politics from US intervention and to peacefully end its regional dispute with Turkey over Cyprus. The book deploys an interdisciplinary approach which brings together the diverse perspectives of diplomatic history, foreign policy analysis and political sociology.Trade ReviewA compelling history that alerts the reader to the geopolitics of the Greek world and the word. Absorbing in its details while eye-opening in its transnational conceptualization. * Gonda Van Steen, Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature, King’s College London, UK *Interweaving an account of Greek foreign policy in the wake of Greece’s civil war with the latest International Relations theory, Alexander Kazamias achieves the impossible: a solid work of history, based on extensive archival research, which is located within a sophisticated conceptual framework. * Martyn Rady, Masaryk Professor Emeritus of Central European History, UCL, UK *In this trenchant analysis of Greek foreign policy, Alexander Kazamias shows how resurgent irredentism, far from being independent of colonialism, could fatally fuse with the self-interested goals of a declining but still massively powerful British imperium and the virulent anti-communism of the Cold War. Rejecting political and cultural stereotypes, Kazamias crafts a disturbingly credible account of how this toxic ideological brew has continued to plague Greek foreign relations while concomitantly condemning Cyprus to geopolitical limbo. He thereby elucidates the long-term effects of colonialism and its reincarnation in postcolonial hegemonies. * Michael Herzfeld, author of Subversive Archaism: Troubling Traditionalists and the Politics of National Heritage *Table of ContentsIntroduction Conceptualizing the Dualism of Greek Foreign Policy Hegemony, Dependence and the US Policy Review of 1952 The Domestic Structures of the Post-Civil War Political System From Dependence to Dualism: Cyprus enters Greek Foreign Policy Dependent Nationalism: ‘Operating between two Notions’ The Semi-Internationalization of the Cyprus Question: The UN Appeal The Dualist Aspects of Foreign Economic Policy Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis textbook provides a dynamic and concise overview of the Cold War. Offering balanced coverage of the whole era, it takes a firmly global approach, showing how at various times the focus of East-West rivalry shifted to new and surprising venues, from Laos to Katanga, from Nicaragua to Angola. Throughout, Jenkins emphasises intelligence, technology and religion, as well as highlighting themes that are relevant to the present day. A rich array of popular culture examples is used to demonstrate how the crisis was understood and perceived by mainstream audiences across the world, and the book includes three ‘snapshot’ chapters, which offer an overview of the state of play at pivotal moments in the conflict – 1946, 1968 and 1980 – in order to illuminate the inter-relationship between apparently discrete situations. This is an essential introduction for students studying Cold War, twentieth century or Global history.Table of Contents1. IntroductionPart One: Between Wars? 1945-19672. Origins: The World In 19463. The Struggle For Europe4. Nuclear Perils5. Asian Theaters6. Decolonization and Third World Struggles7. Khrushchev and KennedyPart Two: Living in the Cold War8. National Security and Repression9. Spies, Saboteurs, and Defectors10. Cold War CulturesPart Three: The Struggle Redefined: 1968-199111. Crisis of Ideologies: The World in 196812. A Cold Peace, or War by Other Means?13. Four Minutes to Midnight: The World in 198014. The New Struggle15. Endgame16. Conclusion: Winners, Losers, and Inheritors

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Book SynopsisThis edited volume examines entanglements and disentanglements between Africa and East Germany during and after the Cold War from a global history perspective. Extending the view beyond political elites, it asks for the negotiated and plural character of socialism in these encounters and sheds light on migration, media, development, and solidarity through personal and institutional agency. With its distinctive focus on moorings and unmoorings, the volume shows how the encounters, albeit often brief, significantly influenced both African and East German histories.

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Book Synopsis''White handles hefty quantities of research effortlessly, combining multiple biographies with a broader overview of the period. His energetic, anecdote-laden prose will have you hooked all the way from Orwell to le Carré'' Sunday Times, Books of the Year''Cold Warriors reads like a thriller . . . ambitious, intelligent, searching history'' The TimesIn this age of 24-hour news coverage, where rallying cries are made on Twitter and wars are waged in cyberspace as much as on the ground, the idea of a novel as a weapon that can wield any power feels almost preposterous. The Cold War was a time when destruction was merely the press of a button away, but when the real battle between East and West was over the minds and hearts of their people. In this arena the pen really was mightier than the sword. This is a gripping, richly-populated history of spies and journalists, protest and propaganda, idealism and betrTrade ReviewAbsorbing . . . Cold Warriors reads like a thriller . . . However, this is also a book about personal and political liberty; about the freedom to write, mock and dissent; about truth, lies and wilful ignorance . . . [an] ambitious, intelligent, searching history -- Laura Freeman * The Times *A breezily readable group biography . . . raises some haunting questions -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *[A] compulsive read . . . properly cinematic, full of clandestine cross-border flights, double-crossings, arrests, internments and interrogations . . . history has rarely seemed as compelling, and as pertinent, as through the lens of White's journey through this icy age -- Peter Murphy * Irish Times *Duncan White's fascinating new book on the role of literature in the Cold War . . . It frequently grips like a thriller, even in the sections in which White is dealing with intellectual ideas rather than blackmail and violence -- Jake Kerridge * Sunday Telegraph *Brilliant * Choice *Both profound and profoundly important and as engaging as a gripping Cold War thriller * Kirkus *Consistently absorbing * Wall Street Journal *[White's] research is impressive, presented in crisp, efficient prose with an eye for the encapsulating detail . . . Cold Warriors fascinates * Spectator *White guides us expertly through the tangled terrain of the literary Cold War * Literary Review *Cold Warriors is itself written in the style of a spy thriller, echoing and invoking the countless page-turners the clash of ideologies inspired . . . the assembling and stitching together of so many competing narratives is so skilfully done . . . an important book * Times Literary Supplement *Cold Warriors is a formidable, engrossing and almost flawless achievement * Sydney Morning Herald *White handles hefty quantities of research effortlessly, combining multiple biographies with a broader overview of the period. His energetic, anecdote-laden prose will have you hooked all the way from Orwell to le Carré * Sunday Times *White has a sharp eye for the telling anecdote - for the absurd as well as the fearful -- John Mullan * Guardian *Deft and wide-ranging * Prospect *

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Book SynopsisThe gripping story of a collective passion for freedom that shook the world.

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Book SynopsisThe Solitary Spy is a unique account of the terrifying experience of incarceration and interrogation in an East German political prison, from which Boyd eventually escaped one step ahead of the KGB.

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Trade Review"Grant presents 10 articles exploring the history of British statecraft during the Cold War. Contributors first discuss issues of nuclear weapons, examining British nuclear strategy, disarmament and non proliferation policy, and civil defense policy. The focus then turns to diplomacy, broadly defined, in chapters that look at British- West German relations, Anglo-French nuclear cooperation and British policy towards the European Community, and transatlantic nuclear cooperation. The final major theme of the volume is intelligence, which is examined in terms of perceived threats to national security, Soviet missile defense and the British nuclear deterrent, and British economic intelligence activities." -Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc.Table of ContentsForeword - Peter Hennessy; Introduction - Matthew Grant; Part One: The Bomb! 1.British nuclear strategy during the Cold War - Kristan Stoddart; 2.Disarmament and non-proliferation - Stephen Twigge; 3.Civil defence and the nuclear deterrent - Matthew Grant; Part Two: Diplomacy; 4.A coalition of 'compromise and barter' :Britain and West Germany in the Cold War 1945-75 - R. Gerald Hughes; 5.Transformation and tradition: Anglo-French nuclear co-operation and Britain's policy towards the European Community 1960-1974 - Helen Parr; 6.Transatlantic nuclear co-operation: the British perspective 1945-1991 - Melissa Pine; Part Three: Intelligence; 7.The British way in intelligence - Michael S. Goodman; 8.British intelligence and threats to British national security after the Second World War - Calder Walton; 9.British intelligence, Soviet missile defence and the British nuclear deterrent - Catherine Haddon!; 10. The British way of economic intelligence - Pete Davies; Notes on contributors.

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Book SynopsisOranges Are Not the Only Fruit meets Goodbye Lenin.''I hadn''t expected the Berlin Wall to be clean and white and smooth. It looked more like the edge of the swimming baths than the edge of the Cold War. On the grass of No-man''s Land, fat rabbits ate and strolled about as if they''d never been hunted and nothing could disturb them. This was their land and they ruled it, and there were three parts to Berlin: East, West and Rabbit.''It is 1978, Jess is thirteen and she already has a reputation - as the daughter of the only communist in town. But then, it''s in the blood. The Mitchells have been in the Party since the Party began. Jess and her mother Eleanor struggle to sell socialism to Tamworth - a sleepy Midlands town that just doesn''t want to know.So when Eleanor is invited to spend a summer teaching in East Germany, she and Jess leap at the chance to see what the future looks like. On the other side of the Iron Curtain they turn from villains into heroes. And when Eleanor meets widower Peter and his daughter, Martina, a new, more peaceful life seems possible.But the Cold War has no time for love and soon the trouble starts. Peter is dispatched for two years of solidarity work in Laos. Friends become enemies, and Jess discovers how easy it is to switch sides, and how sides can be switched for you, sometimes without you even knowing.Motherland is a tender mother-daughter story and a tragi-comic portrait of a childhood overcome with belief. It''s about loss of faith and loss of innocence, and what it''s like to grow up on the losing side of history.Trade ReviewFunny, smart, and packed full of all the melancholy you would expect from a novel that slowly sheds a child's innocence * Red *There's a great deal of humour in Motherland, all underpinned with a sober tone . . . Jess makes an engaging narrator * alifeinbooks *In its warm and witty portrait of offbeat mother-daughter relations, Motherland often recalls Nina Stibbe's Man At The Helm. Jess's gift for wry observations also gives rise to some wonderfully quotable lines * Lady *Motherland cuts a swathe through history without feeling like a lesson . . . Even though Motherland is full of historical detail, between 1980s Tamworth and the GDR, the oppression of the era never overwhelms. At the heart, and most important are the human relationships and which bonds survive * Emerald Street *I'm sure that these are characters (and the voice of a new novelist) that I for one will gladly revisit over and over again . . . A beautiful story tinged with fun, sadness and insight * Bookbag *A delightful tragi-comic novel, primarily about a mother/daughter relationship (hence the title) and also about coming of age and disillusionment . . . Motherland combines a teenager's cold-eyed view of adult absurdities and a wistfulness for lost certainties; a compelling blend * Historical Novel Review *A funny and poignant first novel * Daily Mail *This assured debut from Jo McMillan was a delight from start to finish; I was immediately drawn into the lives of the main characters and was sorry to get to the end. McMillan is now based in Berlin and she writes convincingly of both sides of the Cold War, she has a very distinct voice and will be a writer to watch in the future * We Love This Book *McMillan's writing is excellent; she captures brilliantly the voice of Jess, naive and committed at the start of the book, knowing and more questioning by the end. Although there's perhaps a certain irony in places in her portrayal of the various members of the counter-culture groups, she never belittles their belief and their faith in their cause . . . Motherland is McMillan's debut, and it's an excellent one - highly recommended! * Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings *For those of us who remember how well youthful politics can entangle teenage love, this funny, sweet, sad first novel is both a delight and a glorious journey back to a time and place many of us only recall with a wry shake of the head * Stella Duffy *An ambitious coming-of-age novel from debut author Jo McMillan, which is wonderfully written and filled with quirky details and descriptions . . . A touching and poignant read, which uniquely explores this period in time in a way in which few other authors have attempted to * Herald *Genuinely funny * Socialist Worker *A touching and poignant read, which uniquely explores this period in time in a way in which few other authors have attempted to * Press Association *An ambitious coming-of-age story, filled with quirky details and descriptions * Scotsman *It's an ambitious coming-of-age novel from debut author Jo McMillan, which is wonderfully written and filled with quirky details and descriptions . . . a touching and poignant read, which uniquely explores this period in time in a way in which few other authors have attempted to * Catholic Universe *The book (sometimes very funny, sometimes desperately embarrassing and sad, always absorbing and moving) is full of her ineradicable love for her batty, determined Stalinist mother . . . I urge you to [read it] * Mail Online *

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Book SynopsisA brilliant novel of espionage and betrayal from 'one of Britain's most accomplished thriller writers' (Daily Mail)Trade ReviewRich, densely plotted . . . If le Carré needs a successor, Williams has all the equipment for the role * Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year *Williams is an accomplished thriller writer and this may be his best book yet. London in the 1960s, its smoky pubs, damp streets and crackle of sexual liberation is so well portrayed that reading Witchfinder is almost like time travel. Williams blends fact and fiction to make a captivating read * Financial Times *Seamlessly combining real-life characters with fictional, Andrew Williams has fashioned an absolutely cracking espionage novel * Irish Independent *If a good spy novel needs anything, it's uncertainty, a hall of mirrors; and Witchfinder delivers it in spades. Great stuff.The most authentic spy novel ever written . . . an utterly fascinating account of a very dangerous time in British history when elements of the Secret State were out of control.Every bit as cynical in tone as Mick Herron's Slough House mob... a painstakingly recreated account of the cold war's darkest days * Irish Times *Gripped me not just because of its crisp writing but because of its unusually skilful blending of history and imagination... A clever, cautionary tale. * Tablet *Praise for The Suicide Club * - *Andrew Williams has established himself as a master of the intelligent political/historical thriller. The Suicide Club, set partly at Field Marshal Haig's headquarters in 1917 and partly in German occupied Beligum, is his best novel yet: gripping and disturbing * The Scotsman Books of the Year *Williams has become one of Britain's most accomplished thriller writers. Rich in the politics of war and based on spectacular research into the reality,The Suicide Club delivers a delicate portrait of the intricacies of war, while never neglecting the bravery. * Daily Mail *Meticulously researched and classily written . . . offers a distinctive perspective * The Sunday Times *The war-damaged Innes is a strong, sympathetic character and the meticulously researched background is fascinating * The Times *

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Book SynopsisWith case studies of the Cold War comedy, the 'rogue cop' film, the brainwashing thriller and the urban romances, 'Cold War Film Genres' explores these myriad productions, redefining American cinematic history with a more inclusive view of the types of films that post-war audiences actually enjoyed, and that the studios provided for them.

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Book SynopsisDrawing on theorists such as Jean Baudrillard, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Luce Irigaray, Friedrich Kittler, Michel Serres, Peter Sloterdijk, Carl Schmitt, Bernard Stiegler and Paul Virilio this collection makes connections between Cold War material and conceptual technologies, as they relate to the arts, society and culture.

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