Overview
"Western interpretations of the Cold War - both realist and neoconservative - have erred by exaggerating either the Kremlin's pragmatism or its aggressiveness, argues Vladislav Zubok. Explaining the interests, aspirations, illusions, fears, and misperceptions of the Kremlin leaders and Soviet elites, Zubok offers a Soviet perspective on the greatest standoff of the twentieth century. Using recently declassified Politburo records, ciphered telegrams, diaries, and taped conversations, among other sources, Zubok explores the origins of the superpowers' confrontation under Stalin, Khrushchev's contradictory and counter-productive attempts to ease tensions, the surprising story of Brezhnev's passion for detente, and Gorbachev's destruction of the Soviet superpower as the by-product of his hasty steps to end the Cold War and to reform the Soviet Union. The first work in English to cover the entire Cold War from the Soviet side, ""A Failed Empire"" provides a history different from those written by the Western victors."
Full Product Details
Author: Vladislav M. Zubok
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Edition: New edition
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 3.50cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.835kg
ISBN: 9780807830987
ISBN 10: 0807830984
Pages: 488
Publication Date: 30 September 2007
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print
Availability: Awaiting stock
Reviews
An excellent survey of Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War, one which draws on a wide range of memoirs, secondary literature, and the still-patchy archival record.--Russian Review <p/>
A significant contribution to a field that has long been dominated by West-centric analyses. . . . Highly recommended. <br> -- CHOICE
[ A Failed Empire ] draw[s] on abundant new primary sources to refine our understanding of the Cold War, turning it from a melodrama into a nuanced tragedy. . . . Rich in new information and fresh interpretation. Zubok reveals the full extent of Stalin's brutal post-World War II suppression of the Soviet People. -- Washington Post Book World
Ranks as the new standard work on the Soviet Union's Cold War--for scholars and students alike. . . . An excellent combination of old and new, offering both a synthetic interpretation of Soviet foreign policy in the latter half of the twentieth century and fresh new material to reconceptualize the factors behind that policy. . . . An important book [and] a standout. <br> a Journal of American History
Author Information
VLADISLAV M. ZUBOK is associate professor of history at Temple University. He is coauthor of Anti-Americanism in Russia: From Stalin to Putin and Inside the Kremlin's Cold War: From Stalin to Khrushchev.
