Cold wars and proxy conflicts Books

574 products


  • Cold War Olympics

    McFarland & Co Inc Cold War Olympics

    Out of stock

    Book Synopsis The political tension of the Cold War bled into the Olympic Games when each side engaged in psychological warfare, exploiting sport for political ends. In Helsinki, the Soviet Union nearly overtook the United States in the medal count. Caught off guard, the U.S. hastened to respond, certain that the Soviets would use a victory at the next Olympics to broadcast their superiority over the Western world. Following the 1956 suppression of the Hungarian uprising, a Soviet athlete struck a Hungarian opponent in the Melbourne water polo semifinals, turning the pool red. The United States covertly encouraged Eastern Bloc athletes to defect, communist Chinese agents nearly succeeded in goading the Taiwanese government into withdrawing from the games, and a forbidden romance between an American and Czech athlete resulted in a politically complex marriage. This history describes those stories and more that resulted from the complicated relationship between Cold War politicTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAuthor's NotePrefaceChapter 1. Let the Cold War Olympics CommenceChapter 2. Red Road to OlympusChapter 3. Dress RehearsalChapter 4. Sotto VoceChapter 5. Stumbling Toward MelbourneChapter 6. Sport, Art and OperaChapter 7. Long Journey from the NightChapter 8. Should the Show Go On?Chapter 9. Operation GriffinChapter 10. Games Within the GamesChapter 11. Nina VanishesChapter 12. The Making of an Olympic HeroChapter 13. The Lovers Who Came in from the ColdChapter 14. Sport über Alles?Chapter 15. Blood in the WaterChapter 16. Political FootballChapter 17. The Games End, for NowChapter 18. The Freedom TourChapter NotesBibliographyIndex

    Out of stock

    £27.54

  • From Vietnam to the Arctic Circle

    McFarland & Co Inc From Vietnam to the Arctic Circle

    Out of stock

    Book Synopsis As a U.S. Navy officer, Jack Whitehouse served aboard a World War II-era destroyer at the peak of the Vietnam War, ran special operations on a patrol gunboat out of Guantanamo Bay following the Cuban Missile Crisis and deployed with the Royal Norwegian Navy to counter Soviet threats north of the Arctic Circle. His detailed memoir recounts American efforts to win the Cold War from the perspective of a young lieutenant on the front lines 1964-1975 and the personal struggles and perseverance of sailors fighting an existential enemy at sea.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsVietnam Vet by Elaine Kiesling WhitehousePrefaceIntroduction1. Why Join the Navy?2. A Life Changing Event3. Midshipman Tough4. Catastrophes of 19685. Graduate, Marry and Join the Fleet6. Classmates Lost7. Deployment to Westpac8. Driving Ships and Yankee Station9. Ensign John Norton and the Evans10. DASH Ops and Bangkok11. Naval Gunfire Support and the Rodent Incident12. Hong Kong Mary, the China Fleet Club, and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident13. A Possible Kraken and Okinawa Legacy14. Wardroom Changes and Another Friend Lost15. Back to Vietnam16. Subic Bay and Olongapo17. Saving John Wayne and the Fight18. Project 100,000 and Typhoon Joan19. Homeward Bound20. Patrol Gunboats21. East Coast Here We Come22. Guantanamo Bay23. The Loss of a Best Friend24. Getting to Norway25. Welcome to the Norwegian Navy26. Deploying to the Arctic27. Life in the Far North28. The Lost Ship29. Not Visiting Leningrad30. The Shetlands, Back North, Sailing Subs31. The Sami32. The Turn33. Riding Norwegian Gunboats34. A Change of CourseAppendix: Soviet Socialism and Its Influences TodayAuthor's Service RecordBibliographyIndex

    Out of stock

    £20.89

  • Assassination in Vichy

    University of Toronto Press Assassination in Vichy

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisDuring the night of 25 July 1941, assassins planted a time bomb in the bed of the former French Interior Minister, Marx Dormoy. The explosion on the following morning launched a two-year investigation that traced Dormoy’s murder to the highest echelons of the Vichy regime. Dormoy, who had led a 1937 investigation into the Cagoule, a violent right-wing terrorist organization, was the victim of a captivating revenge plot. Based on the meticulous examination of thousands of documents, Assassination in Vichy tells the story of Dormoy’s murder and the investigation that followed. At the heart of this book lies a true crime that was sensational in its day. A microhistory that tells a larger and more significant story about the development of far-right political movements, domestic terrorism, and the importance of courage, Assassination in Vichy explores the impact of France’s deep political divisions, wartime choices, and post-war memory.Trade Review"In their study of Marx Dormoy and his murder, Brunelle and Finley-Croswhite provide something for scholars and casual consumers of history alike. Fans of true crime, especially, will not be disappointed." -- Julie M. Powell * Origins, March 2021 *"The research and writing pair Gayle K. Brunelle and Annette Finley-Croswhite have a knack for finding compelling stories that are historically revealing. With their new book, Assassination in Vichy: Marx Dormoy and the Struggle for the Soul of France, they again present a case study of a murder perpetrated by right-wing terrorists. As with their first book, they blend readability with intellectual rigor." -- Mattie Fitch, Marymount University * H-France *"Original in its content and insightful in its analysis, Assassination in Vichy will appeal not only to French history enthusiasts, but also to those who enjoy learning about the complex nature of wartime justice and France's rather complicated role in the Second World War." -- Catherine Gaughan, Ryerson University * The French Review *“A thrilling work of historical scholarship, thoughtful and scrupulous.” -- Kirkus ReviewsTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction July 26, 1941: Explosion 1. 1888–1941: Marx Dormoy and the Soul of France 2. 1941: A Long, Hot Summer 3. July 26–30, 1941: Anatomy of a Crime Scene 4. August 14, 1941: A Bombing in Nice 5. 1941: Recruiting the Assassins 6. August–October 1941: The Net Widens 7. October 1941–March 1942: The Waiting Game 8. April 18, 1942: The Return of Pierre Laval 9. January 23, 1943: German Intervention 10. August 26, 1944: Liberation Conclusion Today: The Legacy of Marx Dormoy Glossary Organizations Timeline Bibliography

    Out of stock

    £20.69

  • The Death of the USS Thresher

    Rowman & Littlefield The Death of the USS Thresher

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    Book SynopsisA must-read for submarine buffs! On the morning of April 10, 1963, the world''s most advanced submarine was on a test dive off the New England coast when she sent a message to a support ship a thousand feet above her on the surface: experiencing minor problem . . . have positive angle . . . attempting to blow . . . . Then came the sounds of air under pressure and a garbled message: . . . test depth . . . Last came the eerie sounds that experienced navy men knew from World War II: the sounds of a submarine breaking up and compartments collapsing. When she first went to sea in April of 1961, the U.S. nuclear submarine Thresher was the most advanced submarine at sea, built specifically to hunt and kill Soviet submarines. In The Death of the USS Thresher, renowned naval and intelligence consultant Norman Polmar recounts the dramatic circumstances surrounding her implosion, which killed all 129 men on board, in history''s first loss of a nuclear submarine.Trade Review"Submarines and underwater navigation have long interested people, even some of the most dyed-in-the-wool landlubbers. One worthy "new" book about submarines is The Death of the U.S.S. Thresher. It was written in 1964. This new edition has been updated by its author, Norman Polmar, to incorporate information that has been declassified since the book was first published."-- AP NewswiresTable of ContentsCONTENTS Preface 1. The Thresher 2. A Brief Career 3. In the Yard 4. The Last Cruise 5. Inside the Thresher 6. The Early Search 7. Finding the Thresher 8. The Inquiry 9. A Sequence of Events 10. Aftermath Appendices A. An announcement that the Thresher is "overdue and presumed missing." B. The first press briefing of the Thresher disaster C. Death certificate for the 129 Navymen and Civilians aboard the Thresher on April 10, 1963 D. Report of the Thresher Court of Inquiry E. Statement announcing the finding of the Thresher's remains F. The 129 Navymen and Civilians who died in the Thresher

    Out of stock

    £11.69

  • Engaged Neutrality

    Lexington Books Engaged Neutrality

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisThe notion that neutrality is a phenomenon only relevant to the Cold War is false in many ways. The Cold War was about building blocks, neutrality about staying out of them. From 1975 until the end of the Cold War, neutral states offered mediation and good offices and fought against the stagnation of the détente policy especially in the framework of the CSCE. After the end of the Cold War, neutral states became active in peace-operations outside of military alliances. The concept of neutrality has proven time and again that it can adapt to new situations. In many ways, small neutral states have more room to maneuver than members of alliances or big powers. They have more acceptance and fewer geopolitical interests. Neutrality has been declared obsolete many times in its long and layered history., yet it has also made many comebacks in varying forms and contexts. Neutrality in the 21st century does not involve to staying out but engaging. In contrast to disengagement and staying out, enTable of Contents1.Cold War Neutrality in Europe: Lessons to be Learned? 2.From an Offer for all Cases to a Model Case?: Aspects of the Controversy about the Soviets' Germany, Austria, and Neutrality Policy, 1952-1955, in Current and Recent Research 3.The Persistence of Neutrality in Post-Cold War Europe 4.Are Neutral States Middle Powers? 5.Geopolitics and the Concept of Neutrality in Contemporary Europe 6.From Helsinki I to Helsinki II?: The Role of the Neutral and Non-aligned States in the OSCE 7.Neutrality for Peace: Switzerland's Independent Foreign Policy 8.The Common Foreign, Security and Defense Policy of the EU: Opportunities and Limitations for Neutral Member States

    Out of stock

    £85.50

  • Communist Rhetoric and Feminist Voices in Cold

    Lexington Books Communist Rhetoric and Feminist Voices in Cold

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisThis book tells the story of a group of women affiliated with the United States Communist Party (CPUSA) who used a variety of rhetorical resources to build credibility and transform the party into a vibrant dwelling place for feminist discourse and activism during a conservative period. It evidences Communist women's significant and creative resistance to Cold War society and its visions of appropriate, normal womanhood alongside their pleas for class and race consciousness in a country that took for granted the white, middle-class aspirations of citizens. Drawing on Marxist theory, transnational coalitions, and Cold War culture, Communist women's rhetorical strategies were incredibly powerful, and this book provides insight into how they catalyzed changes in a rigid political movement by establishing a platform for their radical ideals.Trade ReviewJennifer Keohane’s new book offers a counterhistory of the early Cold War that goes much deeper than the usual mix of Ike, bomb shelters, and McCarthyism. Here is a groundbreaking and well-researched look at the rhetorical dynamics of the American Communist Party, particularly its Cold War-era struggles over women’s roles and their rightful place in society. Anyone interested in this crucial period in American history—or in the incomplete history of the feminist movement—will find in Communist Rhetoric and Feminist Voices an invigorating new vantage point. -- James J. Kimble, Seton Hall University; author, Mobilizing the Home Front: War Bonds and Domestic PropagandaConsidering the new globalized era, complete with saber rattling of global nuclear powers in recent years, Keohane’s Communist Rhetoric and Feminist Voices in Cold War America is timely indeed. The book offers insights into the rhetorical complexity of discourses flourishing in the United States during the Cold War, but with the crucial inclusion of exemplars of women’s rhetoric featuring intersectionality. Keohane’s case studies recover and illuminate women’s agency during a timeframe for which most narratives have elided women’s voices and actions. From movies in pop culture to historical treatments, women’s Cold War era rhetoric tends to be diminished, reduced to an overemphasis on visual style: women’s coiffures, prim garb, and 50s cars. This book is a refreshing antidote, with scholarship that is relevant to areas of research and teaching from ethnic studies to rhetorical criticism, to women’s and gender studies. Keohane’s original take on Cold War communication is brought to life by vivid writing and amazing new examples showcasing women’s courage and resiliency in difficult times, with continuing echoes in contemporary women’s political agitation for justice. -- Ellen W. Gorsevski, Bowling Green State UniversityJennifer Keohane's book represents a significant contribution to the study of radical persuasion, women's discourse, American Communism and Cold War rhetoric. In addition to the more familiar figure of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Keohane focuses a critical lens on less well-known figures such as Claudia Jones, providing readers with insight into the articulation and propagation of Black feminism within the Communist Party. The text also sheds light on women's activism during a time period largely omitted from feminist rhetorical criticism. It is an important work. -- Anne F. Mattina, Stonehill CollegeTable of ContentsCONTENTS Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Cold War, Hot Commodities: Gendering Consumer Culture Post-WWII 2. Spheres of Influence: Building Credibility and Theory in Woman Against Myth, 1948 3. Voice and Visibility: Building Black Feminism in the Postwar Communist Party United States 4. “Articulate and Organized”: Peace Petitions, Working-Class Motherhood, and Transnational Witnessing 5. “Long Range Propositions”: Justifying Activism and Building Commitment 6. “The 100-Hour Work Week”: The Housewife Ethos and Changes to the CPUSA Conclusion Bibliography About the Author

    Out of stock

    £81.00

  • Bridging the Baltic Sea

    Lexington Books Bridging the Baltic Sea

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisTracing the origins, evolution, and goals of Polish and Estonian émigré politics in Cold War Sweden and its linkages with both the host and homeland societies, this book investigates the transnational dimension of resistance and opposition to the communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. The analysis of the constantly shifting, at times conspiratorial, and even subversive networks that transcended the Iron Curtain draws a line from World War II to the collapse of the Soviet Union, framing half a century of transnationally concerted political activism in a geographical context that has not received much scholarly attention. Challenging the image of the Baltic Sea Region as a periphery of the European Cold War theater, the topography of the multilayered and complex linkages between neutral Sweden and her opposite coasts suggests that the small inland sea was a particularly vibrant setting for processes that efficiently defied the rigid border regimes of the Cold War era.This book Trade ReviewThis is an important and well-researched contribution to the growing body of Cold War literature which focuses on transnational cross-border contacts, interactions, and cooperation between East and West in Europe, rather than only on confrontation and division. Lars Fredrik Stöcker demonstrates convincingly how activist networks of Baltic and Polish emigrés benefited from the comparatively low-tension atmosphere of Nordic neutrality in the Baltic Sea region in their intricate and creative work on both sides of the East–West Bloc divide to perforate the Iron Curtain and promote political change. -- Poul Villaume, University of CopenhagenLars Fredrik Stöcker has produced a novel and engaging study of the Polish and Estonian émigré communities in Sweden and their struggle to reestablish Poland and Estonia as nation-states during the Cold War. Using an impressive body of sources, Stöcker reconstructs a complex political landscape of the Baltic Sea region, official and clandestine channels of communication across the Iron Curtain, and the challenges that nationalist activists created for socialist regimes. Scholars of post-World War II Europe will greatly benefit from his focus on these ‘rank-and-file’ warriors of the Cold War, as it shows how much East–West tensions were fueled from below. Bridging the Baltic Sea is an academically rigorous volume, but it is also a fascinating read, telling us in a historically accurate manner about double agents, secret operations, intelligence and counter-intelligence activities, and public opinion formation both in the Eastern bloc and in neutral Sweden. -- Alexey Golubev, University of HoustonTransnational networking in the Baltic Sea region contributed to the demise of communism in Poland and the Soviet Union and to the end of the Cold War. In this brilliant study, Lars Fredrik Stöcker demonstrates how, in the Baltic Sea region, the concerted actions of numerous individuals on both sides of the Iron Curtain became the driving force between the major changes that took place in Poland and Estonia in the 1980s. The transnational opposition networks in the Baltic Sea region helped to undermine the repressive Soviet system. Once the Soviet leaders chose to rule by means of perestroika and glasnost instead of repression, an assertive civil society in these two countries managed to blow up the ossified Soviet system from within. In his pathbreaking study, Stöcker shows how the Baltic Sea became a Sea of Peace that melted down the Cold War. -- Kristian Gerner, Lund UniversitySurveying the Baltic region from World War II to the fall of ‘real socialism’ in 1989, Lars Fredrik Stöcker writes about the wise and the unwise ideas of political émigrés, about realists and dreamers, about the ways of illegal border crossing and secret police, and eventually about the equally illegal transfer of forbidden thoughts, which contributed so much to the ‘annus mirabilis’ of 1989. Stöcker writes accessibly, in a way that will also appeal to general readers, and provides professional historians an eye-opening account of an almost unknown front line of the Cold War. -- Włodzimierz Borodziej, Warsaw UniversityTable of ContentsChapter 1: Entangled Histories in Northeastern Europe Chapter 2: The Topography of Resistance and Opposition around the Baltic Rim, 1939–1949 Chapter 3: “Cold Warfare” at the Edge of the Iron Curtain Chapter 4: In Search of a Common Language Chapter 5: The Transnationalization of Opposition around the Baltic Rim Chapter 6: From Individual to Mass-Based Opposition

    Out of stock

    £101.70

  • Fulda Gap

    Lexington Books Fulda Gap

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisThis edited collection examines the role of the Fulda Gaplocated at the border between East and West Germanyin Cold War politics and military strategy. The contributors analyze the strategic deliberations of the Warsaw Pact and NATO, the balance of forces, the role of the local peace movement, and various other topics, while weaving together the history of the Cold War at local, European, and global levels.Trade ReviewFulda Gap: Battlefield of the Cold War Alliances, which brings together both scholars and veterans, moves deftly from the strategic context to the on-the-ground reality of serving at the front lines of a cold war that did not erupt (at least there) for some four decades. These essays and recollections illustrate what was real and what was imagined about the Soviet threat, the NATO response, and vice versa. Chief among the particular delights are insights into Soviet and East German planning and force structure—as well as into the American experience at the border—and new evidence in advancing the historical narrative well into the 1970s and 1980s. Above all, Fulda Gap demonstrates how much we can gain from situating a specific place in its context and by placing the operational level at the heart of military history. -- Ingo Trauschweizer, Ohio UniversityThe Fulda Gap remains a catch word for the dilemma of Cold War deterrence in the crises of forward defense at the level below the Single Integrated Operational Plan and the Indochina War. The authors in this volume comprise veterans as well as scholars of the US Army, the Bundeswehr, the Soviet Group of Forces in Germany, and the East German Nationale Volksarmee as found in no comparable work. My praise of this work arises from my own personal experience of this task in the 1980s, my advanced study and graduate instruction in this material in the US and Central Europe ever since, and my active participation today in the reconstitution of NATO’s deterrence posture in an unsettled Europe. Scholars will find what they need here, as will those in the here and now in search of the context of an old nightmare that has reappeared in the twenty-first century. -- Donald Abenheim, Naval Postgraduate SchoolTable of ContentsForeword, Gordon R. Sullivan Introduction, Dieter Krüger and Volker Bausch Translator’s Note, David R. Dorondo Chapter 1: Fulda Gap: A Flashpoint of the Cold War between Myth and Reality, Helmut H. Hammerich Chapter 2: The Eighth Guards Army of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and the Fulda Gap, Matthias Uhl Chapter 3: The Strategic and Operational Considerations of NATO in Europe since the 1970s, Helge Hansen Chapter 4: The Development of the Military Conceptions of the Warsaw Pact in the Last Two Decades of the East–West Conflict, Siegfried Lautsch Chapter 5: The Development of NATO Defense Plans for Central Europe in the Final Decades of the Cold War, Gregory W. Pedlow Chapter 6: The Defense of Highway 84: Recollections of the Commander, B Troop, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 1978–1980, Roger Cirillo Chapter 7: The Fulda Gap: A Personal Perspective from Platoon Leader to Army Group, Crosbie E. Saint Chapter 8: The GDR and its Mission in the Warsaw Pact, Torsten Diedrich Chapter 9: The Wartime Mission of the Border Troops of the GDR, Detlef Rotha Chapter 10: Brinkmanship in the Cold War: Theoretical Foundation and Application, Mathias Rupp Chapter 11: When the Cold War Almost Turned Hot, Albin F. Irzyk Chapter 12: When the World Stood at the Abyss—and No One Knew It, Volker Bausch Chapter 13: The Military Relationship of Forces between the North Atlantic Alliance and the Warsaw Pact, Michael Poppe Chapter 14: The Alliances and the Fulda Gap: A Balance between Ideology, Politics, Strategy, and Operational Plans, Dieter Krüger

    Out of stock

    £94.50

  • The CIA and Third Force Movements in China during

    Lexington Books The CIA and Third Force Movements in China during

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    Book SynopsisWhen the Chinese Communists defeated the Chinese Nationalists and occupied the mainland in 19491950, U.S. policymakers were confronted with a dilemma. Disgusted by the corruption and, more importantly, failure of Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist armies and party and repelled by the Communists' revolutionary actions and violent class warfare, in the early 1950s the U.S. government placed its hopes in a Chinese third force. While the U.S. State Department reported on third forces, the CIA launched a two-prong effort to actively support these groups with money, advisors, and arms.In Japan, Okinawa, and Saipan, the agency trained third force troops at CIA bases. The Chinese commander of these soldiers was former high-ranking Nationalist General Cai Wenzhi. He and his colleagues organized a political group, the Free China Movement. His troops received parachute training as well as other types of combat and intelligence instruction at agency bases. Subsequently, several missions were dispatchedTrade Review[Jeans" draws upon Graham Greene’s work to conclude with a damning assessment of CIA intervention overseas, stating that despite the legacy of China and Vietnam, the CIA has “never learned its lesson about the perils and costs of covert intervention in someone else’s country” (263). [He] has clearly illustrated this in his important study, which brings together historical fields including military and intelligence studies and Chinese and American cultural and political history, and will be of immense use to readers interested in the Cold War, Sino-American relations, and the complexities and immoralities of US empire. * Pacific Affairs *As Chinese Communist forces swept to victory in 1949 and Chiang Kai-shek’s government seemingly imploded, some American policy makers fantasized about a ‘Third Force,’ a movement of pro-democracy, pro-American leaders opposed to both the CCP and Chiang. Enter the CIA and covert operations and the Third Force project was born. This project has been shrouded in secrecy and indeed CIA records are still closed. But in this important new study, Roger B. Jeans has done a remarkable job of sleuthing to find archival sources, published material, memoirs, and, most importantly, oral interviews. This is likely the definitive study of the effort for the foreseeable future. -- Parks M. Coble, University of NebraskaThe story of CIA’s failed efforts to back a Chinese third force between the Communists and the Nationalists during the early Cold War lays bare the futility of US covert operations in Asia, as well as the hopelessness of third force movements. Drawing on a range of underutilized American and Chinese sources, Roger B. Jeans has provided a masterful account, with a critical analysis of the failed project and an assessment of the unrealizable 'great American dream' from which the United States apparently had learned little. -- Edmund S. K. Fung, Western Sydney UniversityRoger B. Jeans tells the complicated story of a giant fiasco that has been highly classified since the 1950s and kept secret. The book is a pioneering work, thorough and well researched. It is destined to become definitive. -- Stephen R. MacKinnon, Arizona State UniversityRoger B. Jeans has done historians of China, the United States, and the Cold War an enormous favor. He has left no stone untouched in his hunt for the truth behind CIA interventions in China and Vietnam in the civil wars in these two countries. He demonstrates that their efforts to foster political and military forces amenable to US guidance in between the main opponents were as blinkered as they were inept. More than that, The CIA and Third Force Movements in China during the Early Cold War also amounts to a ringing denunciation of the CIA's continuing and increasing efforts to keep its past hidden from public scrutiny, an instinct of benefit to no one. -- Hans van de Ven, University of CambridgeTable of ContentsIntroduction: The CIA and the Chinese Third Force during the Early 1950s List of Abbreviations Chapter 1: The Collapse of the Anticommunist Resistance in China and the CIA’s Launch of a Third Force, 1949–1950 Chapter 2: Quest for a Third Force during the Korean War, 1950–1953 Chapter 3: The Creation of a Third Force Committee in Hong Kong, 1950–1952 Chapter 4: The Political Wing of the Third Force: The Fighting League for Chinese Freedom and Democracy Chapter 5: The Creation of a Third Force “Army” in Japan, Okinawa, and Saipan Chapter 6: CIA Debacle: The Downey-Fecteau Third Force Mission to Manchuria Chapter 7: Chinese Nationalist and Communist Reactions to the Third Force Chapter 8: The Demise of the Third Forces, 1953–1954 Conclusion: Why Did the CIA’s Chinese Third Force Project Fail? Epilogue: “The Great American Dream”: The CIA and the Vietnamese Third Force in the Early 1950s

    Out of stock

    £94.50

  • The Zookeepers War

    Simon & Schuster The Zookeepers War

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe unbelievable true story of the Cold War’s strangest proxy war, fought between the zoos on either side of the Berlin Wall. “The liveliness of Mohnhaupt’s storytelling and the wonderful eccentricity of his subject matter make this book well worth a read.” —Star Tribune (Minneapolis)Living in West Berlin in the 1960s often felt like living in a zoo, everyone packed together behind a wall, with the world always watching. On the other side of the Iron Curtain, East Berlin and its zoo were spacious and lush, socialist utopias where everything was perfectly planned... and then rarely completed. Berlin’s two zoos in East and West quickly became symbols of the divided city’s two halves. So no one was terribly surprised when the head zookeepers on either side started an animal arms race—rather than stockpiling nuclear warheads, they competed to have the most pandas and hippos. Soon, staTrade Review“As riveting as any Cold War spy novel. The Zookeepers’ War is an immaculately researched, moving tale of two zoo directors whose careers became a microcosm of the struggle between two antagonistic ways of life. A captivating read.” -- Elena Gorokhova, author of Russian Tattoo“J. W. Mohnhaupt’s engrossing tale features a mix of just about everything: outsized ambitions, clashing personalities, Cold War drama, and animals galore. It also encapsulates Germany’s history from the end of World War II until reunification. Quite a feat – and a must read.” -- Andrew Nagorski, bestselling author of 1941: The Year Germany Lost the War“With the Stasi chipping in for a pair of bears, Ho Chi Minh sending an elephant, and the Kennedys gifting a decrepit bald eagle, J. W. Mohnhaupt’s portrait of two dueling Berlin zoos gives us a new understanding of the term ‘political animal.’ This quirky and delightful account of captive critters and soft (and occasionally scaly) diplomacy is colorful, provocative, and ultimately about the very human notions of power, pleasure, and the nature of freedom.” -- Abby Tucker, bestselling author of The Lion in the Living Room“The book is subtitled ‘An Incredible True Story from the Cold War,’ and for once that’s no exaggeration.” * Daily Mail *“The liveliness of [Mohnhaupt’s] storytelling and the wonderful eccentricity of his subject matter make this book well worth a read.” * Minneapolis Star-Tribune *“A charming account of a decades-long rivalry between Heinrich Dathe, the dour, scholarly, former Nazi zoologist and educator who founded and directed East Berlin’s zoo, called the Tierpark, and Heinz-Georg Klös, the opportunistic, insecure veterinarian turned administrator… of the West Berlin zoo... As frenemies for nearly half a century, they encapsulate the larger saga of the great city, the era, and a world in conflict...” * Air Mail *“A highly entertaining true story that is sure to delight history buffs and general audiences alike.” * America Magazine *“Cold War Berlin bursts to life in this riveting, lively German bestseller chronicling the fierce rivalry between zoos on either side of the Iron Curtain... Mohnhaupt is a keen guide to the difficulties of a divided Berlin and to the enchantment of a career devoted to wild animals.” * Publishers Weekly *“An offbeat tale from the Cold War… with plenty of near-comical turns.” * Kirkus Reviews *

    10 in stock

    £13.84

  • The Power of Systems

    Cornell University Press The Power of Systems

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisIn The Power of Systems, Egle Rindzeviciute introduces readers to one of the best-kept secrets of the Cold War: the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, an international think tank established by the.S and Soviet governments to advance scientific collaboration. From 1972 until the late 1980s IIASA in Austria was one of the very few permanent platforms where policy scientists from both sides of the Cold War divide could work together to articulate and solve world problems. This think tank was a rare zone of freedom, communication, and negotiation, where leading Soviet scientists could try out their innovative ideas, benefit from access to Western literature, and develop social networks, thus paving the way for some of the key science and policy breakthroughs of the twentieth century.Ambitious diplomatic, scientific, and organizational strategies were employed to make this arena for cooperation work for global change. Under the umbrelTrade ReviewThe Power of Systems is a first-rate monograph, best suited for graduate students, scholars of Soviet Russia and the Cold War, and scholars of the history and sociology of science. * American Historical Review *Combining a policy analyst's sensitivity to practical politics and a historian's instinct for contingency and context.... Rindzevičiūtė has provided a rare glimpse through the lens of boutique institutional history of a time and place. * SLAVIC REVIEW *The Power of Systems is a masterful study of a complex network of institutions and individuals—many of which were previously unregistered in the Anglo-American historiography—that made the international science of systems analysis possible. * Technology and Culture *

    Out of stock

    £88.76

  • Mr. X and the Pacific

    Cornell University Press Mr. X and the Pacific

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisGeorge F. Kennan is well known as the preeminent American expert on the Soviet Union during the Cold War and the author of the doctrine of containment. In Mr. X and the Pacific, Paul J. Heer chronicles and assesses Kennan''s work in affecting US policy toward East Asia. Heer traces the origins, development, and bearing of Kennan''s strategic perspective on the Far East during his time as director of the State Department''s Policy Planning Staff from 1947 to 1950. The author follows Kennan''s career and evolution of his thinking as he subsequently became a prominent critic of American participation in the Vietnam War. Mr. X and the Pacific offers readers a new view of Kennan, revealing his importance and the totality of his role in East Asia policy, his struggle with American foreign policy in the region, and the ways in which Kennan''s legacy still has implications for how the United States approaches the region in the twenty-first century.Trade ReviewMeticulously researched and well-crafted.... Paul Heer’s insightful look into George Kennan’s views of the region during the early years of the Cold War can help us better understand and cope with the geopolitical challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. * Asian Review of Books *Heer's work is clearly written, widely researched, fair and balanced in its assessments, and a valuable contribution to our understanding of the influence of, and contradictory ideas sometimes held by, one of the most important foreign policymakers in the twentieth century. The organization by theme or nation works well due both to the nature of the material and to Heer's brief yet clear reminders of how one topic fits into another when appropriate. Also, although begun in the 1990s, as Heer explains in his opening, the work is quite timely. In the current international environment, a study that examines warnings against miscalculating America's interests, if not also capabilities, in East Asia is a welcome reminder that such miscalculations can often have serious and lasting ramifications for both the United States and the people in the region. * H-Diplo *There are insightful references to Kennan's hopes for reconciliation with Japan and China and much detail on Kennan's frustrations with US strategy changes in the Pacific and with Dean Acheson's replacing George Marshall as secretary of state. * Choice *[W]hat Heer has done in Mr. X and the Pacific is a success. His sober narrative proves worthy of his subject's powerful intellect in its careful analysis of the nuances of the historical record. * Journal of American-East Asian Relations *There has been no monograph focusing solely on Kennan's role in formulating U.S. Cold War policy in Asia, until Paul Heer's Mr. X and the Pacific. Heer's study meticulously traces Kennan's views of Asian countries and evaluates positive and negative legacies of Kennan's policy recommendations on the region. * Pacific Historical Review *Although known primarily as a Sovietologist, Kennan played a vital role in early Cold War US policy in East Asia, primarily with respect to the Chinese civil war and US policy in occupied Japan. Those several years are the primary focus of intelligence analyst-cum-scholar Paul Heer's meticulous and well-balanced critical study of Kennan's involvement in US East Asia policy. * PACIFIC AFFAIRS *Mr. X and the Pacific sheds light on how containment applied to East Asia... For those who are interested in US grand strategy in East Asia, especially in the era of the Cold War, this book is a must read. * H-War *

    Out of stock

    £97.20

  • Losing Hearts and Minds

    Cornell University Press Losing Hearts and Minds

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisMatthew K. Shannon provides readers with a reminder of a brief and congenial phase of the relationship between the United States and Iran. In Losing Hearts and Minds, Shannon tells the story of an influx of Iranian students to American college campuses between 1950 and 1979 that globalized U.S. institutions of higher education and produced alliances between Iranian youths and progressive Americans. Losing Hearts and Minds is a narrative rife with historical ironies. Because of its superpower competition with the USSR, the U.S. government worked with nongovernmental organizations to create the means for Iranians to train and study in the United States. The stated goal of this initiative was to establish a cultural foundation for the official relationship and to provide Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with educated elites to administer an ambitious program of socioeconomic development. Despite these goals, Shannon locates the incubation of at least one possible versionTrade ReviewIn telling this fascinating and troubling transnational history, Shannon illustrates to diplomatic historians how much can be gained by attending seriously to the political significance of education. * History of Education Quarterly *Losing Hearts and Minds is an important intervention in the historiography of US-Iran relations. Shannon's work has broadened our gaze beyond diplomats, soldiers, and spies, in order to consider the significance of activists, students, and technocrats, amongst others, in shaping the relationship between Iran and the United States....This is a long-overdue development that will no doubt influence the future trajectory of the historiography, particularly as historians of US-Iran relations look ahead to the fortieth anniversary of the Iranian Revolution in 2019. * H-Net *Shannon deserves praise for his impressive archival research, broad scope, and focus on students as transnational actors... Losing Hearts and Minds is an important addition to the literature on U.S.-Iranian relations. * AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW *In shedding light on the heretofore underappreciated importance of the Iranian student experience in the United States, Losing Hearts and Minds adds to our understanding of the Islamic Revolution and subsequent breakdown in U.S.-Iranian relations. Both a strong self-contained case study and part of a much larger, transnational narrative, it deserves a wide readership. * The Journal of American History *Shannon has written one of the finest available monographs on students as transnational actors. His book is also required reading for anyone wishing to comprehend the full story of U.S. relations with Pahlavi Iran. * Diplomatic History *American-Iranian Dialogues achieves what its authors set out to do. Its diverse chapters verify the significance of non-state actors in US-Iranian relations as well as the value of entangled history in that process. They also lay the groundwork for further work by authors and readers alike of editor Matthew Shannon's salutary anthology. * Michigan War Studies Review *

    Out of stock

    £42.30

  • Arc of Containment

    Cornell University Press Arc of Containment

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisArc of Containment recasts the history of American empire in Southeast and East Asia from World War II through the end of American intervention in Vietnam. Setting aside the classic story of anxiety about falling dominoes, Wen-Qing Ngoei articulates a new regional history premised on strong security and sure containment guaranteed by Anglo-American cooperation.Ngoei argues that anticommunist nationalism in Southeast Asia intersected with preexisting local antipathy toward China and the Chinese diaspora to usher the region from European-dominated colonialism to US hegemony. Central to this revisionary strategic assessment is the place of British power and the effects of direct neocolonial military might and less overt cultural influences based on decades of colonial rule, as well as the considerable influence of Southeast Asian actors upon Anglo-American imperial strategy throughout the post-war period. Arc of Containment demonstrates that AmTrade ReviewNgoei issues a sad warning about the costs for the peoples of the area subjected to the new and re-emergent Asian cold war challenges. This is an important scholarly contribution. * Choice *Wen-Qing Ngoei's Arc of Containment: Britain, the United States, and Anticommunism in Southeast Asia is a thought-provoking, compelling, and significant contribution to the study of American hegemony and intervention in postwar Southeast Asia. * Southeast Asian Studies *In this well-argued and convincing book, Wen-Qing Ngoei... delivers a perceptive and comprehensive... overview of the diplomatic and strategic evolution of Southeast Asia in the 1950s and 1960s. Arc of Containment situates the Vietnam War in a regional context, and students of history, diplomacy, politics, and security should find it interesting and illuminating. * The Journal of Asian Studies *Arc of Containment, which is based upon adroit trawling in the archives of the principal nations at issue—Great Britain, the United States, Singapore, and Malaysia—is certainly one of the more intriguing explorations of Washington's excruciating encounter in Southeast Asia; and, like many good books, it sheds light relentlessly on matters not necessarily addressed frontally: most pointedly, Washington's conflict then entente with China. * Diplomatic History *By bringing the agency and influence of Southeast Asian actors into his analysis, Ngoei's book offers more regional insight to interested readers seeking knowledge about American influence in Southeast Asia. The book itself represents a noteworthy intersection of historical, comparative, and security scholarship and would be of equal interest to historians, political scientists, and regional scholars alike. * PACIFIC AFFAIRS *This relatively slim volume illuminates as it enlightens [a] vivid testament to its immense value. -- Diplomatic History

    1 in stock

    £102.60

  • The Rise and Decline of the American Century

    Cornell University Press The Rise and Decline of the American Century

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn 1941 the magazine publishing titan Henry R. Luce urged the nation's leaders to create an American Century. But in the post-World-War-II era proponents of the American Century faced a daunting task. Even so, Luce had articulated an animating idea that, as William O. Walker III skillfully shows in The Rise and Decline of the American Century, would guide United States foreign policy through the years of hot and cold war.The American Century was, Walker argues, the counter-balance to defensive war during World War II and the containment of communism during the Cold War. American policymakers pursued an aggressive agenda to extend U.S. influence around the globe through control of economic markets, reliance on nation-building, and, where necessary, provision of arms to allied forces. This positive program for the expansion of American power, Walker deftly demonstrates, came in for widespread criticism by the late 1950s. A changing world, epitomized by the nonaligned movTrade ReviewAn impressively detailed account of U.S. foreign policy in the early postwar decades. * Foreign Affairs *Walker's book is meticulously researched, packed with authoritative knowledge steeped in archival research and deep appreciation for how the world looks from Washington, D.C., conditioned by recent historical work providing agency to the non-West. * The Journal of American History *In this lucid and persuasive work... [William O. Walker] provides a thought-provoking and original prism through which to view this pivotal period. * Diplomatic History *Table of ContentsPreface List of Abbreviations Introduction: Henry R. Luce and the Security Ethos Part 1: The Rise of the American Century 1. Pursuing Hegemony 2. Protecting the Free World 3. Seeking Order and Stability 4. Sustaining Leadership Part 2: The Decline of the American Century 5. Bearing Burdens 6. Contending with Decline 7. Attaining Primacy Conclusion: An Improbable Quest Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £39.90

  • The Nuclear Spies

    Cornell University Press The Nuclear Spies

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisWhy did the US intelligence services fail so spectacularly to know about the Soviet Union''s nuclear capabilities following World War II? As Vince Houghton, historian and curator of the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, shows us, that disastrous failure came just a few years after the Manhattan Project''s intelligence team had penetrated the Third Reich and knew every detail of the Nazi ''s plan for an atomic bomb. What changed and what went wrong?Houghton''s delightful retelling of this fascinating case of American spy ineffectiveness in the then new field of scientific intelligence provides us with a new look at the early years of the Cold War. During that time, scientific intelligence quickly grew to become a significant portion of the CIA budget as it struggled to contend with the incredible advance in weapons and other scientific discoveries immediately after World War II. As The Nuclear Spies shows, the abilities of the Soviet Union''s scientists, its rTrade ReviewIn this neat, enthralling study, Houghton wonders why this successful intelligence operation was followed by the failure to anticipate the first Soviet nuclear test in August 1949. * Foreign Affairs *A great read: Concise, fact-packed, laden with fascinating anecdotes, and chock full of insights... This book is for everyone, intelligence expert and layperson alike. A page turner. * The Cipher Brief *As Vince Houghton reports in this beautifully written and well-researched history, the American scientific and strategic community believed they were in a race with Nazi physics, and they had a nagging fear that they might not win that race. The Nuclear Spies explores the administrative, scientific, logistical, and intelligence aspects of the effort to collect, analyze, and disseminate information about a weapon that at the time was neither fully understood nor developed. * International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence *Vince Houghton has written an engaging and well-researched book focusing on the U.S. effort to gather scientific intelligence on the German atomic bomb program during World War II. Houghton expands his scope beyond the war to demonstrate that the scientific and atomic intelligence bureaucracy designed during the war withered in the immediate postwar era. * The Journal of American History *[A] useful introduction to the field of scientific intelligence. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Principal Uncertainty 1. A Reasonable Fear: The U.S. (Mis)Perception of the German Nuclear Program 2. Making Something out of Nothing: The Creation of U.S. Nuclear Intelligence 3. Alsos: The Mission to Solve the Mystery of the German Bomb 4. Transitions: From the German Threat to the Soviet Menace 5. Regression: The Postwar Devolution of U.S. Nuclear Intelligence 6. Whistling in the Dark: The U.S. (Mis)Perception of the Soviet Nuclear Program Conclusion: Credit Where Credit Is Due Notes Selected Bibliography Index

    Out of stock

    £20.89

  • Divided Allies

    Cornell University Press Divided Allies

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisBy directly challenging existing accounts of post-World War II relations among the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, Divided Allies is a significant contribution to transnational and diplomatic history. At its heart, Divided Allies examines why strategic cooperation among these closely allied Western powers in the Asia-Pacific region was limited during the early Cold War. Thomas K. Robb and David James Gill probe the difficulties of security cooperation as the leadership of these four states balanced intramural competition with the need to develop a common strategy against the Soviet Union and the new communist power, the People''s Republic of China.Robb and Gill expose contention and disorganization among non-communist allies in the early phase of containment strategy in Asia-Pacific. In particular, the authors note the significance of economic, racial, and cultural elements to planning for regional security and they highTrade ReviewDivided Allies should be considered not only the best treatment of early Cold War History of cooperation between Washington, London, Canberra, and New Zealand but also has substantial empirical material of interest to International Relations scholars and for historians to further follow-up. * H-Diplo *The study is undoubtedly an impressive piece of scholarship in both its scope and execution... this volume comes highly recommended for scholars working in the space of Anglo-alliance relations during the Cold War. * PACIFIC AFFAIRS *Divided Allies is a detailed and clear treatment of an important and often-neglected topic: geopolitical and strategic cooperation between the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand in the Asia-Pacific in the ten years following World War II. Their careful attention to policymaking and cooperation between these four states is a welcome addition to scholarship on the development of the Cold War in the Asia-Pacific. * Diplomatic History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction 1. National Interests 2. Crisis and Cooperation 3. A Negotiated Alliance 4. Selective Membership 5. An Unwelcome Ally 6. Divided Action 7. The Costs of Compromise Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

    Out of stock

    £42.30

  • To Kill Nations

    Cornell University Press To Kill Nations

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn To Kill Nations Edward Kaplan describesa long process of evolution and adaptation as U.S. political and military leaders grappled with integrating nuclear weapons into national defense after World War II. Strikingly, he sees not a sudden revolution but a gradual process of incremental changes in military preparedness policy and action. * Journal of American History *There are many other studies of weapons development and Eisenhower and Kennedy's approaches to national defense. The great strength of Kaplan's is his tracing of the evolution of US policy in response to perceived Soviet capabilities. He astutely demonstrates how the Berlin and Cuban missile crises exposed the drawbacks of preparing primarily for an atomic war with the Soviet Union.To Kill Nations will enlighten readers seeking an intelligent overview of the evolution of airpower strategy in the first twenty-five years of the Cold War as well as, more specifically, President Eisenhower's New Look security policy and Robert McNamara's influence on national security strategy during the Kennedy administration. * Michigan War Studies Review *Kaplan draws extensively on archival records, including declassified government documents, to tell the story of how US nuclear strategy went from being focused on winning nuclear war with the Soviet Union to being more in line with the [mutually assured destruction] thinking made famous by early nuclear deterrence scholars, such as Thomas Schelling.... The book is a well-researched, interesting history of SAC and SAC's influence on US national security strategy during the first twenty years of the Cold War. * H-NET Reviews *Edward Kaplan's To Kill Nations is a fascinating work that packs a thermonuclear punch of ideas and arguments into 223 pages of dense but readable text (260 including endnotes, etc.). The work is suitable for anyone from advanced undergraduates to experts in the field. * Strategy Bridge *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Antecedents 2. Declaration, Action, and the Air-Atomic Strategy 3. Finding a Place 4. The Fantastic Compression of Time 5. To Kill a Nation 6. Stalemate, Finite Deterrence, Polaris, and SIOP-62 7. New Sheriff in Town 8. End of an Era Conclusion Key to Sources and Abbreviations Notes Index

    Out of stock

    £19.94

  • Atomic Americans

    Cornell University Press Atomic Americans

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisAt the dawn of the Atomic Age, Americans encountered troubling new questions brought about by the nuclear revolution: In a representative democracy, who is responsible for national public safety? How do citizens imagine themselves as members of the national collective when faced with the priority of individual survival? What do nuclear weapons mean for transparency and accountability in government? What role should scientific experts occupy within a democratic government? Nuclear weapons created a new arena for debating individual and collective rights. In turn, they threatened to destabilize the very basis of American citizenship.As Sarah E. Robey shows in Atomic Americans, people negotiated the contours of nuclear citizenship through overlapping public discussions about survival. Policymakers and citizens disagreed about the scale of civil defense programs and other public safety measures. As the public learned more about the dangers of nuclear fallout, criticTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Wars to Come 1. Stop "Play[ing] Pattycake with the Whole Issue": Citizen Calls for Civil Defense 2. "Between the Devil and the Deep": Civil Defense and the Early Cold War Political Landscape 3. The Man in the White Lab Coat: The Uses of Scientists and Scientific Authority 4. The Fallout from Fallout: The Peacetime Threat 5. Atomic America: The Expert Public and Nuclear Dissent Conclusion: Renouncing the Nuclear in Nuclear Citizenship

    Out of stock

    £39.60

  • Arc of Containment

    Cornell University Press Arc of Containment

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisArc of Containment recasts the history of American empire in Southeast and East Asia from World War II through the end of American intervention in Vietnam. Setting aside the classic story of anxiety about falling dominoes, Wen-Qing Ngoei articulates a new regional history premised on strong security and sure containment guaranteed by Anglo-American cooperation.Ngoei argues that anticommunist nationalism in Southeast Asia intersected with preexisting local antipathy toward China and the Chinese diaspora to usher the region from European-dominated colonialism to US hegemony. Central to this revisionary strategic assessment is the place of British power and the effects of direct neocolonial military might and less overt cultural influences based on decades of colonial rule, as well as the considerable influence of Southeast Asian actors upon Anglo-American imperial strategy throughout the post-war period. Arc of Containment demonstrates that AmTrade ReviewNgoei issues a sad warning about the costs for the peoples of the area subjected to the new and re-emergent Asian cold war challenges. This is an important scholarly contribution. * Choice *Wen-Qing Ngoei's Arc of Containment: Britain, the United States, and Anticommunism in Southeast Asia is a thought-provoking, compelling, and significant contribution to the study of American hegemony and intervention in postwar Southeast Asia. * Southeast Asian Studies *In this well-argued and convincing book, Wen-Qing Ngoei... delivers a perceptive and comprehensive... overview of the diplomatic and strategic evolution of Southeast Asia in the 1950s and 1960s. Arc of Containment situates the Vietnam War in a regional context, and students of history, diplomacy, politics, and security should find it interesting and illuminating. * The Journal of Asian Studies *Arc of Containment, which is based upon adroit trawling in the archives of the principal nations at issue—Great Britain, the United States, Singapore, and Malaysia—is certainly one of the more intriguing explorations of Washington's excruciating encounter in Southeast Asia; and, like many good books, it sheds light relentlessly on matters not necessarily addressed frontally: most pointedly, Washington's conflict then entente with China. * Diplomatic History *By bringing the agency and influence of Southeast Asian actors into his analysis, Ngoei's book offers more regional insight to interested readers seeking knowledge about American influence in Southeast Asia. The book itself represents a noteworthy intersection of historical, comparative, and security scholarship and would be of equal interest to historians, political scientists, and regional scholars alike. * PACIFIC AFFAIRS *This relatively slim volume illuminates as it enlightens [a] vivid testament to its immense value. -- Diplomatic History

    Out of stock

    £22.49

  • Ambassadors of Social Progress

    Cornell University Press Ambassadors of Social Progress

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisAmbassadors of Social Progress examines the ways in which blind activists from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe entered the postwar international disability movement and shaped its content and its course. Maria Cristina Galmarini shows that the international work of socialist blind activists was defined by the larger politics of the Cold War and, in many respects, represented a field of competition with the West in which the East could shine. Yet, her study also reveals that socialist blind politics went beyond propaganda. When socialist activists joined the international blind movement, they initiated an exchange of experiences that profoundly impacted everyone involved. Not only did the international blind movement turn global disability welfare from philanthropy to self-advocacy, but it also gave East European and Soviet activists a new set of ideas and technologies to improve their own national movements. By analyzing the intersection of disability and politics, Ambassadors of Social Progress enables a deeper, bottom-up understanding of cultural relations during the Cold War. Galmarini significantly contributes to the little-studied history of disability in socialist Europe, and ultimately shows that disability activism did not start as an import from the West in the post-1989 period, but rather had a long and meaningful tradition that was rooted in the socialist system of welfare and needed to be reinvented when this system fell apart.

    Out of stock

    £42.30

  • Revolution in the Terra do Sol: The Cold War in

    Stanford University Press Revolution in the Terra do Sol: The Cold War in

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisSarah Sarzynski's cultural history of Cold War–era Brazil examines the influence of revolutionary social movements in Northeastern Brazil during the lead-up to the 1964 coup that would bring the military to power for 21 years. Rural social movements that unfolded in the Northeast beginning in the 1950s inspired Brazilian and international filmmakers, intellectuals, politicians, and journalists to envision a potential social revolution in Brazil. But in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the strength of rural social movements also raised fears about the threat of communism and hemispheric security. Turning to sources including Cinema Novo films, biographies, chapbook literature, and materials from U.S. and Brazilian government archives, Sarzynski shows how representations of the Northeast depended on persistent stereotypes depicting the region as backward, impoverished, and violent. By late March 1964, Brazilian Armed Forces faced little resistance when overthrowing democratically elected leaders in part because of the widely held belief that the violence and chaos in the "backward" Northeast threatened the modern Brazilian nation. Sarzynski's cultural history recasts conventional narratives of the Cold War in Brazil, showing how local struggles over land reform and rural workers' rights were part of broader ideological debates over capitalism and communism, Third World independence, and modernization on a global scale.Trade Review"Revolution in the Terra do Sol deftly analyzes the different images and tropes about the Brazilian Northeast that were employed by peasant groups, the Catholic Church, the U.S. government, the Brazilian Left, and conservative elites to justify their understanding of the region's reality as social conflicts intensified on the eve of the 1964 coup d'état." -- James Green * Brown University *"This book gives serious consideration to powerful recurring tropes of Northeast Brazil—messianic communities, bloodthirsty bandits, starving peasants—and will help readers to appreciate the power of these vivid representations, and to identify the ways in which they limited understandings of the complex social struggles taking place within Brazil in the years before and after the dictatorship of 1964-1985." -- Candace Slater * University of California, Berkeley *"Sarzynski's incisive analysis...critically adds to traditional historiographical emphases on peasant mobilization and counterinsurgency doctrine. In tracing the broader historical arc and cultural framework of northeastern Brazilian power struggles, she demonstrates the methodological value of an interdisciplinary approach to the history of Cold War Latin America." -- Seth Garfield * Hispanic American Historical Review *

    Out of stock

    £56.95

  • Goodbye, My Havana: The Life and Times of a

    Stanford University Press Goodbye, My Havana: The Life and Times of a

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisAn eyewitness account of idealism, self-discovery, and loss under one of the twentieth-century's most repressive political regimes Set against a backdrop of world-changing events during the headiest years of the Cuban Revolution, Goodbye, My Havana follows young Connie Veltfort as her once relatively privileged life among a community of anti-imperialist expatriates turns to progressive disillusionment and heartbreak. The consolidation of Castro's position brings violence, cruelty, and betrayal to Connie's doorstep. And the crackdown that ultimately forces her family and others to flee for their lives includes homosexuals among its targets—Connie's coming-of-age story is one also about the dangers of coming out. Looking back with a mixture of hardheaded clarity and tenderness at her alter ego and a forgotten era, with this gripping graphic memoir Anna Veltfort takes leave of the past even as she brings neglected moments of the Cold War into the present.Trade Review"Anna Veltfort's graphic novel is both historically important and utterly engaging. Her early life, in which she brushed shoulders with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara while navigating the dangers of a hidden queer existence, is portrayed in exquisite, uncompromising, and impeccably researched detail, all in the 'clear line' style of Hergé's Tintin. This remarkable and heartfelt book is a loving ode to Cuba, a cautionary tale about the politics of oppression, and proof positive that the personal is always political and the political always personal."—Justin Hall, editor of No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics"With clear and striking images, Veltfort's insider/outsider view of 1960s Cuba offers a resonant glimpse into an often misunderstood time and place. From moment to moment, readers will find themselves both riveted and wonderfully informed."—Chantel Acevedo, author of The Distant Marvels: A Novel"The combination of features that make Veltfort's experience and its representation here unique is mindboggling. This story of a woman and a nation simultaneously coming of age, their histories inextricably bound together during each of their most formative years, is like no other book I know of."—Alejandro Velasco, New York University"A lovely and sensitive graphic memoir that retraces the life experiences of a thoughtful young woman trying to find her own way among ambivalent Cubans and sanctimonious expats in the early days of revolutionary Cuba. I rooted for Anna on every page."—Sherine F. Hamdy, University of California, Irvine"The drawings are meticulous and brilliantly colored, many accompanied by historical documents, lending great authenticity to the work as a snapshot of the time....[The] work is undeniably unique and effective in recreating not only the socioeconomic scarcity but the reigning political paranoia and the social anxiety felt by any dissenter resisting the government's aspirations for the isle at that time."—Katrina Spencer, Booklist"Veltfort was 16 years old in 1962 when her communist parents moved her family from the San Francisco Bay Area to Havana; her insightful memoir relates anecdotes from those heady days when both she and Cuba changed rapidly....Among often partisan portrayals of Cuba, Veltfort's memoir of a rare life's triumphs and tragedies stands out for its nuanced portrayal."—Publishers Weekly"While it's easy to lose sight of the stories of individuals within the grand narratives of geopolitics,Goodbye, My Havana succeeds in focusing its attention on the lives that affect and are affected by this moment in history....a resonant reminder that social movements are not defined by the rhetoric of their leaders, but by the freedoms afforded or denied to those communities that society most often marginalizes."—Lorissa Rinehart, Hyperallergic"[Anna Veltfort] opens up with first-person charm and, she makes us feel, honesty.she makes terrific use of the compositional and collage possibilities of the graphic form."—Lorna Scott Fox, Times Literary Supplement"Goodbye, My Havana portrays love on multiple levels: the natural love between humans, the eternal love of humans for art, and the patriotic love shaped by the revolutionary state... Veltfort shows the human cost of this unilateral, obligatory love."—Toloo Riazi, Latino Book Review"Anna Veltfort's Goodbye, My Havana is one of the most important and innovative books about Cuba to be published recently. A graphic designer and illustrator, Anna Veltfort has produced a graphic memoir that is riveting and visually enticing. After such a long literary silence, she gets to tell her own story. And what a story it is."—Ruth Behar, Cuban StudiesTable of Contents1. Havana Bay 2. The University of Havana 3. The Sierra Maestra 4. "Morgan!" and the Malecón 5. The Revolutionary Offensive 6. A Family Visit 7. The Last Ship

    Out of stock

    £19.79

  • My Revision Notes: OCR AS/A-level History: The

    Hodder Education My Revision Notes: OCR AS/A-level History: The

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisExam board: OCRLevel: A-levelSubject: History First teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016Target success in OCR AS/A-level History with this proven formula for effective, structured revision; key content coverage is combined with exam preparation activities and exam-style questions to create a revision guide that students can rely on to review, strengthen and test their knowledge.- Enables students to plan and manage a successful revision programme using the topic-by-topic planner- Consolidates knowledge with clear and focused content coverage, organised into easy-to-revise chunks- Encourages active revision by closely combining historical content with related activities- Helps students build, practise and enhance their exam skills as they progress through activities set at three different levels- Improves exam technique through exam-style questions with sample answers and commentary from expert authors and teachers- Boosts historical knowledge with a useful glossary and timeline

    1 in stock

    £13.46

  • OCR A Level History: The Cold War in Asia

    Hodder Education OCR A Level History: The Cold War in Asia

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisExam board: OCRLevel: A LevelSubject: History First teaching: September 2015First exams: AS: Summer 2016, A Level: Summer 2017An OCR endorsed resourceSuccessfully cover Unit Group 2 with the right amount of depth and pace. This bespoke series from the leading History publisher follows our proven and popular approach for OCR A Level, blending clear course coverage with focused activities and comprehensive assessment support.- Develops understanding of the period through an accessible narrative that is tailored to the specification content and structured around key questions for each topic- Builds the skills required for Unit Group 2, from explanation, assessment and analysis to the ability to make substantiated judgements- Enables students to consolidate and extend their topic knowledge with a range of activities suitable for classwork or homework- Helps students achieve their best by providing step-by-step assessment guidance and practice questions- Facilitates revision with useful summaries at the start and end of each chapter- Ensures that students understand key historical terms and concepts by defining them in the glossary

    4 in stock

    £33.52

  • Access to History: The Cold War 1941–95 Fourth

    Hodder Education Access to History: The Cold War 1941–95 Fourth

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisExam board: AQA; OCRLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS); Summer 2017 (A-level)Put your trust in the textbook series that has given thousands of A-level History students deeper knowledge and better grades for over 30 years.Updated to meet the demands of today's A-level specifications, this new generation of Access to History titles includes accurate exam guidance based on examiners' reports, free online activity worksheets and contextual information that underpins students' understanding of the period.- Develop strong historical knowledge: in-depth analysis of each topic is both authoritative and accessible- Build historical skills and understanding: downloadable activity worksheets can be used independently by students or edited by teachers for classwork and homework- Learn, remember and connect important events and people: an introduction to the period, summary diagrams, timelines and links to additional online resources support lessons, revision and coursework- Achieve exam success: practical advice matched to the requirements of your A-level specification incorporates the lessons learnt from previous exams- Engage with sources, interpretations and the latest historical research: students will evaluate a rich collection of visual and written materials, plus key debates that examine the views of different historians

    1 in stock

    £20.90

  • Wilderness of Mirrors: Intrigue, Deception, and

    Skyhorse Publishing Wilderness of Mirrors: Intrigue, Deception, and

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisAt the dawn of the Cold War, the world’s most important intelligence agencies—the Soviet KGB, the American CIA, and the British MI6—appeared to have clear-cut roles and a sense of rising importance in their respective countries. But when Kim Philby, head of MI6’s Russian division and arguably the twenty-first century’s greatest spy, was revealed to be a Russian mole along with British government heavyweights Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess, everything in the Western intelligence world turned upside down. Here is the true story of how the American James Bond—the colorful, foulmouthed, pistol-packing, alcoholic ex-FBI agent William “King” Harvey—put the finger on Philby; how James Jesus Angleton, the chain-smoking poet of Yale University and the CIA’s supposed “master spy” in charge of counterintelligence, began his descent into a paranoid wilderness of mirrors upon learning of family friend Kim Philby’s ultimate betrayal; and the devastating consequences of the loss of MI6 prestige and the CIA’s subsequent self-defeating witch hunts. Every revelation, every stranger-than-fiction twist and turn is all the more intriguing as truths become lies and unlikely scenarios are revealed as reality. With impeccable sourcing and the use of thousands of pages of declassified research, David C. Martin’s Wilderness of Mirrors is widely recognized as a masterpiece of intelligence literature.Trade Review"Based on scores of interviews and CIA insiders and thousands of pages of previously classified documents, Wilderness of Mirrors is a penetrating account of Cold War intrigue filled with strange doings and even stranger people.Enthralling, provocative, vividly controversial. Deserves to be widely read.” —Washington Post "A remarkably detailed account of the internal disputes about the defectors and double agents that tied the CIA in knots during the 1960s . . . Intelligence buffs will savor each new revelation.” —The Wall Street Journal “A classic of intelligence literature.” —Center for the Study of Intelligence

    10 in stock

    £12.34

  • The Berlin Airlift: The Cold War Mission to Save

    Skyhorse Publishing The Berlin Airlift: The Cold War Mission to Save

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis“A detailed dramatic narrative…Vivid.”—Times (London) Literary Supplement. How the Allies kept the population of West Berlin alive in the face of a Russian blockade.In the summer of1948, the Russians occupied all of Eastern Europe. Behind Russian lines, the Allied-controlled part of the great city of Berlin stood as the lone Western outpost in a sea of Communist occupation. Then the Soviets closed all Allied traffic through their zone, sealing off the food and supply routes on which the city relied.A vast air armada streamed from Western airfields to supply the hard-pressed Berliners with food and necessities. For over a year the Americans led a gigantic—and successful—effort to keep an entire city alive in the face of Soviet hostility.With strong insight into the characters of Ernest Bevin, General Clay, Dean Acheson, and Robert Schumann, and now with a foreword by former British minister to Berlin Sir Michael Burton, this a story of individual heroism and high brinkmanship politics, of daily life under appalling circumstances, and great achievements against all odds.Trade Review"A richly detailed tribute."—Publisher's Weekly “Painstakingly researched…eminently readable…mpartially presented…brings the personalities to life.”—Sunday Times “With the Blockade, the book gets into full stride…a detailed yet dramatic narrative tat balances the crisis diplomacy with a vivid account of the airlift and the people.”—Times Literary Supplement “A complete and thorough account…the authors take us admirably through this important chapter in post-war history.”—Sir Frank Roberts, former advisor to Winston Churchill, ambassador to the USSR from 1960 to 1962, and ambassador to West Germany from 1963 to 1968 “The scope of the enterprise catches the imagination….The authors are to be congratulated on their wide-ranging research…piquancies enliven the complex tale.”—London Review of Books "A solid study...a new way to look at the West."—Library Journal

    10 in stock

    £12.99

  • The Last Division

    Skyhorse Publishing The Last Division

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £16.14

  • The United States, the Soviet Union and the

    Manchester University Press The United States, the Soviet Union and the

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisThe Arab-Israeli conflict cannot be properly understood without considering the larger context of the Cold War. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Israel's relationships with the United States and the Soviet Union from 1948 to 1967, showing how the fledgling state had to manoeuvre between the two superpowers in order to survive. Collating information from hundreds of sources, many of them unavailable to the general public, it will be of great interest to students and scholars in international relations and political history, but also to the general reader, providing as it does a wide perspective of both Israel and the Arab countries and their interaction with the superpowers.Trade Review‘Joseph Heller is the doyen of historians of Zionist diplomacy. This book represents the crowning achievement of a lifetime devoted to study of the subject. It is the best-informed, most up-to-date, most thoroughly researched and most cogently argued analysis of Israel's relations with the superpowers between 1948 and 1967. Drawing on newly available Soviet, American, and Israeli archival sources, it sheds light on the Cold War framework within which Israeli foreign policy was perforce conducted. It will be essential reading for all those who seek to understand the basic underpinnings of the Arab-Israeli conflict in its formative phase.’Bernard Wasserstein, University of Chicago‘Joseph Heller’s latest work has delved deeply into Israeli archives to uncover hitherto unpublished diplomatic correspondence which illuminates the evolution of Israeli policy during the maelstrom of superpower rivalry in the Middle East. The complexity of Israel’s position was accentuated by its desire to secure the emigration of Soviet Jews – and Professor Heller describes the tortuous balancing acts that were performed between national interests and ideological necessity. This is an interesting work of detailed research and casts new light and different interpretations on the triangular relationship of Israel, the US and the USSR.’Colin Shindler, SOAS, University of London'Using Russian and Hebrew as well as European sources, Joseph Heller argues persuasively that Israeli leaders saw themselves "trapped" between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviets were a ferocious enemy, believing Israel to be an American puppet while apprehensive that Zionism might create a Jewish nationalist awakening in the Soviet Union itself. The Americans provided indispensable economic support yet kept an insufferable hand on the Israeli collar, fearing that Israel could further alienate the Arab states from the West. Building to the climax of the 1967 war, this is an indispensable book.' Wm. Roger Louis, University of Texas -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 The Soviet Union and Israel: from the Gromyko declaration to the death of Stalin (1947–53)2 The United States and the Cold War: from Truman to Eisenhower (1948–53)3 Israel and the Soviet Union prior to the Suez Crisis (1953–56)4 Sharett versus Eisenhower and Dulles (1953–56)5 Israel and the United States on the road to war (November 1955–November 1956)6 The Eisenhower Doctrine and Israel (November 1956–January 1958)7 Soviet– Israeli relations after the Suez War (1956–61)8 How the Middle East crises affected US policy toward Israel (1958–60)9 Kennedy, Israel and the Cold War before the Cuban Missile Crisis (1961–62)10 Was Kennedy the ‘father’ of the US– Israeli alliance? (1962–63)11 Khrushchev, Israel and Soviet Jewry (1961–64)12 Was Johnson the ‘father’ of the US– Israeli alliance?: the Memorandum of Understanding (1964–65)13 Johnson, Israel and the Cold War: testing the Memorandum of Understanding (1965–67)14 The Soviet Union, Israel and Soviet Jewry (1964–67)15 The United States and the crisis of the Six Day War (May 14–June 5, 1967)16 The Soviet Union and the Six Day War (May 14–June 5, 1967)ConclusionsIndex

    Out of stock

    £76.50

  • Communism and Anti-Communism in Early Cold War

    Manchester University Press Communism and Anti-Communism in Early Cold War

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe struggle in projects, ideas and symbols between the strongest Communist Party in the West and an anti-communist and pro-Western government coalition was the most peculiar founding element of Italian democratic political system after World War II. Communism and anti-Communism in early Cold War Italy enlightens new aspects of and players of the anti-Communist ‘front’. It takes into account the role of cultural associations, newspapers and the popular press in the selection and diffusion of critical judgements and images of Communism, highlighting a dimension that explains the force and the diffusion of anti-communist opinions in Italy after 1989 and the crisis of traditional parties. The author also places the case of Italian cold-war anti-communism in an international context for the first time.Table of ContentsIntroduction1. Systems and methods for political communication in post-war Italy2. Religious and moral values3. Freedom and democracy4. The fatherland, the Italian nation and its role in the world5. Towards a legitimation of prosperity?Index

    1 in stock

    £76.50

  • Printing Terror: American Horror Comics as Cold

    Manchester University Press Printing Terror: American Horror Comics as Cold

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisPrinting Terror places horror comics of the Cold War in dialogue with the anxieties of their age. It rejects the narrative of horror comics as inherently, and necessarily, subversive and explores, instead, the ways in which these texts manifest white male fears over America’s changing sociological landscape. It examines two eras: the pre-CCA period of the 1940s up to 1954, and the post-CCA era to 1975. The book examines each of these periods through the lenses of war, gender, and race, demonstrating that horror comics at this time were centered on white male victimhood and the monstrosity of the gendered and/or racialised other. It is of interest to scholars of horror, comics studies, and American history.Trade Review'The six main chapters incorporate a broad range of texts, and in these Goodrum and Smith read comics from two distinct periods—the periods before and after the formation of the Comics Code Authority (CCA) in 1954—through the lenses of trauma, race, and gender.'Choice Reviews. All rights reserved. Copyright by the American Library Association'The authors robustly show the extent to which horror comics appear to indict racism and misogyny while consistently presenting women and people of colour as endangering white men and societal structures.'Dianne Kirby, Twentieth Century Communism -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 The dead – the slain – the unavenged – trauma in the 1940s and 1950s 2 Men are beasts! Wild beasts! Wild beasts must be destroyed! – gender in the 1940s and 1950s 3 Confusion turns to fear – race in the 1940s and 1950s 4 Monster kids: bridging the pre- and post-CCA eras 5 The war has done strange things to you – trauma in the 1960s and 1970s 6 This isn’t a dream! This is really happening! – gender in the 1960s and 1970s 7 We are a species that fears itself most of all – race in the 1960s and 1970s 8 Conclusion: appropriating white male fear Index

    Out of stock

    £76.50

  • The Blunt Affair: Official Secrecy and Treason in

    Manchester University Press The Blunt Affair: Official Secrecy and Treason in

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisThe case of the Cambridge spies has long captured the public’s attention, but perhaps never more so than in the wake of Anthony Blunt’s exposure as the fourth man in November 1979. With the Cold War intensifying, patriotism running high during the Falklands War and the AIDS crisis leading to widespread homophobia, these notorious traitors were more relevant than ever. This book explores how they were depicted in literature, television and film throughout the 1980s. Examining works by an array of distinguished writers, including Dennis Potter, Alan Bennett, Tom Stoppard and John le Carré, it sheds new light on the affair, asking why such privileged young men chose to betray their country, whether loyalty to one’s friends is more important than patriotism and whether we can really trust the intelligence services.Table of ContentsIntroduction: the Blunt Affair and its impact on literature, television and film in the 1980s1 Tradition and treason in Dennis Potter’s Blade on the Feather2 School for scandal: Julian Mitchell’s Another Country3 Allegories of prudence: Alan Bennett’s Single Spies4 Tender comrades: friendship and treason in Robin Chapman’s One of Us and Blunt — The Fourth Man5 ‘Men of the middle ground’: John le Carré’s A Perfect Spy and the treachery of Kim Philby6 The 'unsavoury' world of espionage: Tom Stoppard’s The Dog It Was That Died7 Secrecy, the State and the citizen: Hugh Whitemore’s Pack of Lies, Concealed Enemies and Breaking the Code8 Gentlemen’s agreement: Scandal, the Profumo Affair and the end of the Cold WarConclusion: ‘getting at the darkness’: poststructuralism and naturalism in literature, television and film in the 1980sIndex

    Out of stock

    £76.50

  • De-Centering Queer Theory: Communist Sexuality in

    Manchester University Press De-Centering Queer Theory: Communist Sexuality in

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisDe-centering queer theory seeks to reorient queer theory to a different conception of bodies and sexuality derived from Eastern European Marxism. The book articulates a contrast between the concept of the productive body, which draws its epistemology from Soviet and avant-garde theorists, and Cold War gender, which is defined as the social construction of the body. The first part of the book concentrates on the theoretical and visual production of Eastern European Marxism, which proposed an alternative version of sexuality to that of western liberalism. In doing so it offers a historical angle to understand the emergence not only of an alternative epistemology, but also of queer theory’s vocabulary. The second part of the book provides a Marxist, anti-capitalist archive for queer studies, which often neglects to engage critically with its liberal and Cold War underpinnings.Trade ReviewWinner of the ALGCR Prize for Cultural and Literary Theory 2021 -- .Table of ContentsList of figuresAcknowledgmentsPART I: COMMUNIST SEXUALITY IN THE FLOW1 A materialist conception of queer theoryPART II: GENDER AND THE ERASURE OF MARXIST EPISTEMOLOGY2 Productive bodies in early Soviet Marxism 3 The birth of gender epistemology during the US Cold War4 Marxism and queer theory at the end of the Cold WarPART III: DE-CONTEXTUALIZING MARXISM5 Abolition6 Counterfetish 7 The unconscious 8 Trans 9 The future of queer communism BibliographyIndex

    Out of stock

    £76.50

  • De-Centering Queer Theory: Communist Sexuality in

    Manchester University Press De-Centering Queer Theory: Communist Sexuality in

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisDe-centering queer theory seeks to reorient queer theory to a different conception of bodies and sexuality derived from Eastern European Marxism. The book articulates a contrast between the concept of the productive body, which draws its epistemology from Soviet and avant-garde theorists, and Cold War gender, which is defined as the social construction of the body. The first part of the book concentrates on the theoretical and visual production of Eastern European Marxism, which proposed an alternative version of sexuality to that of western liberalism. In doing so it offers a historical angle to understand the emergence not only of an alternative epistemology, but also of queer theory’s vocabulary. The second part of the book provides a Marxist, anti-capitalist archive for queer studies, which often neglects to engage critically with its liberal and Cold War underpinnings.Trade ReviewWinner of the ALGCR Prize for Cultural and Literary Theory 2021 -- .Table of ContentsList of figuresAcknowledgmentsPART I: COMMUNIST SEXUALITY IN THE FLOW1 A materialist conception of queer theoryPART II: GENDER AND THE ERASURE OF MARXIST EPISTEMOLOGY2 Productive bodies in early Soviet Marxism 3 The birth of gender epistemology during the US Cold War4 Marxism and queer theory at the end of the Cold WarPART III: DE-CONTEXTUALIZING MARXISM5 Abolition6 Counterfetish 7 The unconscious 8 Trans 9 The future of queer communism BibliographyIndex

    1 in stock

    £23.75

  • Manchester University Press Proxy War in Afghanistan

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisThis book is about proxy war and the politics of state-wrecking in Afghanistan and examines how proxy war undermined the US-led state-building project in Afghanistan. -- .

    Out of stock

    £76.50

  • Phantom in the Cold War: RAF Wildenrath 1977 -

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd Phantom in the Cold War: RAF Wildenrath 1977 -

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom was a true multi-role combat aircraft. Introduced into the RAF in 1968, it was employed in ground attack, air reconnaissance and air defence roles. Later, with the arrival of the Jaguar in the early 1970s, it changed over to air defence. In its heyday, it served as Britain s principal Cold War fighter; there were seven UK-based squadrons plus the Operational Conversion Unit, two Germany-based squadrons and a further Squadron deployed to the Falkland Islands. Phantom in the Cold War focuses predominantly on the aircraft s role as an air defence fighter, exploring the ways in which it provided the British contribution to the Second Allied Tactical Air Force at RAF Wildenrath, the home of Nos. 19 and 92 Squadrons during the Cold War. As with his previous books, the author, who flew the Phantom operationally, recounts the thrills, challenges and consequences of operating this sometimes temperamental jet at extreme low-level over the West German countryside, preparing for a war which everyone hoped would never happen.

    2 in stock

    £21.25

  • Malayan Emergency: Triumph of the Rubnning Dogs

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd Malayan Emergency: Triumph of the Rubnning Dogs

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhen the world held its breath It is 25 years since the end of the Cold War, now a generation old. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Iraq, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was Malaya By the time of the 1942 Japanese occupation of the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) had already been fomenting merdeka independence from Britain. The Japanese conquerors, however, were also the loathsome enemies of the MCP s ideological brothers in China. An alliance of convenience with the British was the outcome. Britain armed and trained the MCP s military wing, the Malayan People s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), to essentially wage jungle guerrilla warfare against Japanese occupying forces.With the cessation of hostilities, anti-Japanese became anti-British, and, using the same weapons and training fortuitously provided by the British army during the war, the MCP launched a guerrilla war of insurgency. Malaya was of significant strategic and economic importance to Britain. In the face of an emerging communist regime in China, a British presence in Southeast Asia was imperative. Equally, rubber and tin, largely produced in Malaya by British expatriates, were important inputs for British industry. Typically, the insurgents, dubbed Communist Terrorists, or simply CTs, went about attacking soft targets in remote areas: the rubber plantations and tin mines. In conjunction with this, was the implementation of Mao s dictate of subverting the rural, largely peasant, population to the cause. Twelve years of counter-insurgency operations ensued, as a wide range of British forces were joined in the conflict by ground, air and sea units from Australia, New Zealand, Southern and Northern Rhodesia, Fiji and Nyasaland.

    1 in stock

    £13.49

  • Yom Kippur

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd Yom Kippur

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisIt is 25 years since the end of the Cold War, now a generation old. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Iraq, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was the Middle East On the afternoon of 6 October, 1973, the colossus of the Israeli Defence Forces was awakened by a wave of airstrikes, followed by an artillery bombardment along the Suez Canal that preceded a meticulously planned Egyptian invasion of the Israeli-held Sinai. Simultaneously, a massive Syrian armoured assault bore down on Israeli positions on the Golan Heights. The day was Yom Kippur, the most holy day on the Jewish religious calendar, and the commencement of a war that would bring the young state of Israel to the very brink of defeat.In the aftermath of the Six-Day War of 1967, a stunning Arab reversal at the hands of the untested Israeli Defence Forces, Israel occupied and held Arab territory on the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. These were for the most part territorial buffer zones, retained to protect Israel against an inevitable future war, but their ongoing occupation remained an open diplomatic wound. In the meanwhile, a mood of complacency came to affect the Israeli military machine, in the belief that air and armoured dominance of the battlefield would, as had been the case in 1967, guarantee a quick victory in any future war. The Yom Kippur War proved the fallacy of this belief, revealing critical weaknesses in Israeli intelligence capability and battlefield strategy. The ferocity and effectiveness of the combined invasion pushed the much-storied Israeli armed forces almost to the point of collapse. Only the rapid resupply of arms and equipment by the United States, and a display of extraordinary reliance and determination by the fighting forces of Israel, rescued the young state from annihilation.The story of the Yom Kippur War is an object lesson in the dynamism of military thinking, the evolution of battlefield technology and the uneasy alliance of east and west during the Cold War era of d tente.Yom Kippur was both a military and political manoeuvre that adjusted the balance of power in the Middle East, and set the tone for the ideological stand-off that continues in the region to this day

    2 in stock

    £11.24

  • Dien Bien Phu

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd Dien Bien Phu

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhen the world held its breath It is 25 years since the end of the Cold War, now a generation old. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Iraq, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was French Indochina At the end of the Second World War France sought to reassert its military prestige, but instead suffered humiliating defeat at Dien Bien Phu in French colonial Indochina. The First Indochina war became a textbook example of how not to conduct counter-insurgency warfare against nationalist guerrillas. Anthony Tucker-Jones guides the reader through this decisive conflict with a concise text and contemporary photographs, providing critical insight into the conduct of the war by both sides and its wider ramifications. The Viet Minh, after resisting the Japanese in Indochina, sought independence for Vietnam from France.The French, with limited military resources, moved swiftly to reassert control in 1945, sparking a decade-long conflict. French defence of Hanoi rested on holding the Red River Delta, making it a key battleground. When the Viet Minh invaded neighboring Laos the French deployed to fight a set-piece battle at Dien Bien Phu, in 1954, but instead were trapped. All relief attempts failed and French defences were slowly overwhelmed. America considered coming to the garrison s rescue using nuclear weapons, but instead left it to its fate, which set the scene for the Algerian and the Vietnam conflicts.

    3 in stock

    £14.99

  • Hungarian Uprising: Budapest's Cataclysmic Twelve

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd Hungarian Uprising: Budapest's Cataclysmic Twelve

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhen the world held its breath It is more than 25 years since the end of the Cold War. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Syria, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was Hungary Soviet troops had occupied Hungary in 1945 as they pushed towards Germany and by 1949 the country was ruled by a communist government that towed the Soviet line. Resentment at the system eventually boiled over at the end of October 1956\. Protests erupted on the streets of Budapest and, as the violence spread, the government fell and was replaced by a new, more moderate regime. However, the intention of the new government to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and declare neutrality in the Cold War proved just too much for Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Soviet forces had intervened at the beginning of events to help the former regime keep order but were withdrawn at the end of October, only to return in November and quell the uprising with blunt force. Thousands were arrested, many of whom were imprisoned and more than 300 executed. An estimated 200,000 fled Hungary as refugees. Despite advocating a policy of rolling back Soviet influence, the US and other western powers were helpless to stop the suppression of the uprising, which marked a realization that the Cold War in Europe had reached a stalemate.

    15 in stock

    £14.99

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis: Thirteen Days on an

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Cuban Missile Crisis: Thirteen Days on an

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhen the world held its breath It is more than 25 years since the end of the Cold War. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Syria, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was the Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was the closest the world has yet come to nuclear war, a time when the hands of the Doomsday Clock really did inch towards the witching hour of midnight. By placing nuclear missiles on the Caribbean island of Cuba where, potentially, they were able to threaten the eastern seaboard of the USA, Nikita Khrushchev and the Soviet Union escalated the Cold War to a level that everyone feared but had never previously thought possible. In a desperate and dangerous game of brinkmanship, for thirteen nerve-wracking days Premier Khrushchev and President Kennedy held the fate of the world in their hands. Kennedy, in particular, wrestled with a range of options allow the missiles to stay, launch an air strike on the sites or invade Cuba. In the end, he did none of these but the solution to one of the deadliest dilemmas of the twentieth century proved to be a brave and dramatic moment in human history.

    1 in stock

    £13.49

  • Red China: Mao Crushes Chiang's Kuomintang, 1949

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd Red China: Mao Crushes Chiang's Kuomintang, 1949

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhen the world held its breath It is more than 25 years since the end of the Cold War. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Syria, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was China in 1949 China. 1949: two vast armies prepare for a final showdown that will decide Asia s future. One is led by Mao Tse-tung and his military strategists Zhou Enlai and Zhu De. Hardened by years of guerrilla warfare, armed and trained by the Soviets, and determined to emerge victorious, the People s Liberation Army is poised to strike from its Manchurian stronghold. Opposing them are the teetering divisions of the Kuomintang, the KMT. For two decades Chiang Kai-shek s regime had sought to fashion China into a modern state. But years spent battling warlords, and enduring Japan s brutal conquest of their homeland, has left the KMT weak, corrupt, and divided. Millions of Chinese perished during the crucible of the Sino-Japanese War and the long, gruelling years of the Second World War. But the Soviet victory against the Japanese Kwantung Army in 1945 allowed Mao s Communists to re-arm and prepare for the coming civil war. Within a few short years, the KMT were on the defensive while the Communists possessed the most formidable army in East Asia. The stage was set for China s rebirth as a communist dictatorship ruled by a megalomaniac who would become the biggest mass-murderer in history.Trade Review"For anyone who is looking to know the broad sweep of this moment in history, or is looking to start delving deeper into it, this book is a must. It is the perfect jumping off place for more reading."--A Wargamers Needful Things

    15 in stock

    £14.99

  • North Korea Invades the South: Across the 38th

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd North Korea Invades the South: Across the 38th

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhen the world held its breath It is more than 25 years since the end of the Cold War. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Syria, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was Korea Without warning, at 4.00 a.m. on 25 June 1950, North Korean artillery laid down a heavy bombardment on the Ongjin Peninsula, followed four hours later by a massive armoured, air, amphibious and infantry breach of the ill-conceived post-war border that was the 38 north line of latitude. At 11.00 a.m., North Korea issued a declaration of war against the Republic of Korea. Three days later, the South Korean capital, Seoul, fell. The attack upon Korea makes it plain beyond all doubt that Communism has passed beyond the use of subversion to conquer independent nations and will now use armed invasion and war. A week after his reaction to the North Korean invasion, US President Harry S. Truman, in compliance with a UN Security Council resolution, appointed that iconic Second World War veteran, General Douglas MacArthur, commander-in-chief of forces in Korea. The first in a six-volume series on the Korean War, this publication considers those first few fateful days in June 1950 that would cement north south antagonism to this day, the pariah state that is communist North Korea a seemingly increasing threat to an already tenuous global peace.

    1 in stock

    £13.49

  • Berlin Blockade: Soviet Chokehold and the Great

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd Berlin Blockade: Soviet Chokehold and the Great

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisWhen the world held its breath It is 25 years since the end of the Cold War, now a generation old. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Iraq, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was Berlin. Allied agreements entered into at Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam for the carving up of post-war Berlin now meant nothing to the Soviet conquerors. Their victory had cost millions of Russian lives troops and civilians so the hammer and sickle hoisted atop the Reichstag was more a claim to ownership than success. Moscow s agenda was clear and simple: the Western Allies had to leave Berlin. The blockade ensued as the Soviets orchestrated a determined programme of harassment, intimidation, flexing of muscle, and Socialist propaganda to force the Allies out. Truman had already used the atomic bomb: Britain and America would not be cowed.History s largest airborne relief programme was introduced to save the beleaguered city. In a war of attrition, diplomatic bluff and backstabbing, and mobilizing of forces, the West braced itself for a third world war.

    Out of stock

    £13.49

  • Air Power in the Malayan Emergency

    Pen & Sword Books Air Power in the Malayan Emergency

    5 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    5 in stock

    £25.00

  • US Cold War Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles:

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd US Cold War Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles:

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTo counter the Soviet threat and that of their client States during the Cold War years 1949-1991, the American military deployed an impressive range of main battle tanks (MBTs) and armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs). The Patton series of medium MBTs (including the M46, M47 and M48) supplemented by the M103s Heavy Tank initially formed the core of the US tank fleet. In 1960 the M60 MBT with its British designed 105mm gun entered service and, in turn, was replaced by the M1 Abrams in 1980. In support were armoured reconnaissance vehicles, progressively the M41 bull dog (1951); the M114 (1961), the M551 Sheridan (1967) and M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (1981). The armoured personnel carrier (APC) range included the ubiquitous M113 and its replacement the M2 Bradley, cousin of the M3. Expert author Michael Green covers all these vehicles and their variants in this informative and superbly illustrated Images of War series work.

    1 in stock

    £15.29

  • Bay of Pigs: CIA's Cuban Disaster, April 1961

    Pen & Sword Books Ltd Bay of Pigs: CIA's Cuban Disaster, April 1961

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisPerhaps not in casualties but as far as prestige and standing in the world were concerned, the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 was the worst disaster to befall the USA since the War of 1812 when British forces burned the White House. Badly planned, badly organized, the affair was littered with mistakes from start to finish-not least with an inept performance by John F. Kennedy and his new administration. Supposedly an attempt by Cuban exiles to regain their homeland, the whole operation was funded and equipped by the USA. When things began to go wrong with the landings at Playa Larga and Playa Giron on the southern coast of Cuba President Kennedy and his advisers began overruling military decisions with the result that the invading Brigade 2506-made up of Cuban exiles-was left with little or no air cover, limited ammunition and no easy escape. Fidel Castro made great play of his success and American failure at the Bay of Pigs. He, like Nikita Khrushchev, thought Kennedy was weak: the Cuban Missile Crisis of the following year was almost an inevitable consequence of the disaster.

    1 in stock

    £13.49

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