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9781442219854

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Mark Gilbert writes with clarity and verve, and the story he tells is a dramatic, Europe-wide one that embraces both Western and Eastern European countries. This allows him to reveal the deeper social and economic layers of the Cold War conflict as it played out across the continent, on both sides of the Iron Curtain. -- Anne Deighton, University of Oxford In this valuable account of the Cold War as European history, Mark Gilbert provides a crisp introduction to the politics of European governments and parties- East and West-in a divided continent. Thus he retrieves, and reclaims, the Europeans' own agency in the Cold War-for good and bad. The paradoxical conclusion of this wide-ranging international history of politics is that the historical defeat of Soviet communism is ultimately premised on economics, on the superior efficacy of capitalism upon the socialist command economy. -- Federico Romero, European University Institute This outstanding overview of the huge and complex history of the Cold War puts Europe back where it belongs, at its very center, as this was not a bipolar contest between two superpowers. With immense erudition, Mark Gilbert presents a beautiful narrative and well-balanced analysis, giving due importance to actors and developments on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Gilbert brings events to life in snapshots, with colorful references to films, novels, and art that capture the essence of this huge ideological conflict. A powerful evocation of an era. -- Beatrice Heuser, University of Reading

Mark Gilbert writes with clarity and verve, and the story he tells is a dramatic, Europe-wide one that embraces both Western and Eastern European countries. This allows him to reveal the deeper social and economic layers of the Cold War conflict. His pan-European approach is a timely corrective to much earlier scholarship. -- Anne Deighton, University of Oxford In this valuable account of the Cold War as European history, Mark Gilbert provides a crisp introduction to the politics of European governments and parties- East and West-in a divided continent. Thus he retrieves, and reclaims, the Europeans' own agency in the Cold War-for good and bad. The paradoxical conclusion of this wide-ranging international history of politics is that the historical defeat of Soviet communism is ultimately premised on economics, on the superior efficacy of capitalism upon the socialist command economy. -- Federico Romero, European University Institute This outstanding overview of the huge and complex history of the Cold War puts Europe back where it belongs, at its very center, as this was not a bipolar contest between two superpowers. With immense erudition, Mark Gilbert presents a beautiful narrative and well-balanced analysis, giving due importance to actors and developments on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Gilbert brings events to life in snapshots, with colorful references to films, novels, and art that capture the essence of this huge ideological conflict. A powerful evocation of an era. -- Beatrice Heuser, University of Reading

Mark Gilbert writes with clarity and verve, and the story he tells is a dramatic, Europe-wide one that embraces both Western and Eastern European countries. This allows him to reveal the deeper social and economic layers of the Cold War conflict. His pan-European approach is a timely corrective to much earlier scholarship. -- Anne Deighton, University of Oxford In this valuable account of the Cold War as European history, Mark Gilbert provides a crisp introduction to the politics of European governments and parties- East and West-in a divided continent. Thus he retrieves, and reclaims, the Europeans' own agency in the Cold War-for good and bad. The paradoxical conclusion of this wide-ranging international history of politics is that the historical defeat of Soviet communism is ultimately premised on economics, on the superior efficacy of capitalism upon the socialist command economy. -- Federico Romero, European University Institute

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Mark Gilbert is resident professor of international history at SAIS Europe, the Bologna Center of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He is the 2018 Chair of Jury for the Cundill History Prize.

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