{"product_id":"fearing-the-worst-9780231192743","title":"Fearing the Worst","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFearing the Worst\u003c\/i\u003e explains how the Korean War fundamentally changed postwar competition between the United States and the Soviet Union into a militarized confrontation that would last decades. Samuel F. Wells Jr. examines how military and political events interacted to escalate the conflict.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA masterful study of one of America’s most consequential and most forgotten wars. Samuel F. Wells Jr. weaves together astonishing stories of nuclear strategy and cut-throat bureaucracy in this must-read for anyone eager to understand how the Korean War changed the Cold War—and made the world what it is today. -- Graham Allison, Harvard University\u003cbr\u003eThis excellent book offers new insights into how the Korean War laid the basis for today’s military competition with Russia, China, and North Korea.  Wells analyzes how decisions taken during the Korean conflict dramatically expanded NATO into the central institution that protected the West through the four decades of the Cold War. -- Alexander R. Vershbow, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and South Korea and Deputy Secretary General of NATO\u003cbr\u003eWells tells the seldom understood story of how revolutionary the impact of Korea was on the nature and scale of the four-decade Cold War, and he does so with a masterful and definitive combination of detail, insight, new sources from both sides, and page-turning readability. -- Richard K. Betts, author of \u003ci\u003eAmerican Force: Dangers, Delusions, and Dilemmas in National Security\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow did the \u003ci\u003eglobal \u003c\/i\u003eCold War come into being and remain \u003ci\u003ecold\u003c\/i\u003e? With the support of extensive, multi-archival, and insightful research, Samuel Wells has written an extremely important and nuanced book on the subject. It powerfully and convincingly demonstrates that the Korean War formed a critical turning point, redefining the actual trajectory or even essence of the Cold War that would engulf the two superpowers and prevail in the world in the ensuing four decades. -- Chen Jian, author of \u003ci\u003eMao's China and the Cold War\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWells has drawn on a massive body of documentation and secondary literature from both sides in the Cold War to produce an impressive synthesis of its evolution through the Korean War. Fast paced and persuasively argued, \u003ci\u003eFearing the Worst\u003c\/i\u003e should attract an audience well beyond academe. -- William Stueck, author of \u003ci\u003eRethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA magisterial new study using archives from all the key countries * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eThis excellent monograph by Wells...describes how the Korean War transformed the US into a superpower. * Choice *\u003cbr\u003eClear and engaging prose is a strength of this study. Wells deserves special praise not only for his extensive research in primary documents but also for his consultation of a long list of secondary works. * H-Diplo *\u003cbr\u003eIt is wide ranging and deeply researched. -- Robert Jervis * Pacific Affairs *\u003cbr\u003eThis is a valuable one-volume history that summarizes and updates the general understanding of the Korean War within Cold War history. * International Affairs *\u003cbr\u003eA major work about a critical moment...this book is a must-read not just for students and specialists of the early Cold War but anyone interested in the evolution of American national security policy. -- Steven Casey, London School of Economics and Political Science * American Historical Review *\u003cbr\u003e[A] masterful new book...\u003ci\u003eFearing the Wors\u003c\/i\u003et is not just a history of the Korean War; it is also  a history of politics and international relations during a watershed moment in the  early Cold War. Happily, it is an exceptionally good history in all of those arenas. -- Mitch Lerner, Ohio State University * Journal of Military History *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart I. The War\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Stalin Endorses War in Asia\u003cbr\u003e2. Kim Il-sung Plans an Attack\u003cbr\u003e3. Truman Consolidates US Commitments\u003cbr\u003e4. Joseph McCarthy Sells the Politics of Fear\u003cbr\u003e5. Paul Nitze Sounds the Tocsin\u003cbr\u003e6. North Korea Drives South\u003cbr\u003e7. Truman Reverses Policy\u003cbr\u003e8. Douglas MacArthur Gambles and Wins\u003cbr\u003e9. Mao Zedong Intervenes Massively\u003cbr\u003e10. Peng Dehuai and Matthew Ridgway Fight to a Stalemate\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart II. The Transformation\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e11. George C. Marshall and Robert Lovett Guide a US Buildup\u003cbr\u003e12. Dean Acheson Leads the Defense of Europe\u003cbr\u003e13. Andrei Tupolev Creates a Strategic Bomber Force\u003cbr\u003e14. Curtis LeMay Builds the Strategic Air Command\u003cbr\u003e15. Igor Kurchatov Develops Soviet Nuclear Weapons\u003cbr\u003e16. Walter Bedell Smith Reforms and Expands the CIA\u003cbr\u003e17. Korea Transforms the Cold War\u003cbr\u003eChronology\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eSelected Bibliography\u003cbr\u003eIndex","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49400341987671,"sku":"9780231192743","price":34.2,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780231192743.jpg?v=1730470439","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/fearing-the-worst-9780231192743","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}