To the amazement of the public, pundits, and even the policy-makers themselves, the ideological and political conflict that endangered the world for half a century came to an end in 1990. How did that happen? What had caused the cold war in the first place, and why did it last as long as it did? To answer these questions, Melvyn P. Leffler homes in on four crucial episodes when American and Soviet Leaders considered modulating, avoiding, or ending hostilities and asks why they failed. He then illuminates how Reagan, Bush, and, above all, Gorbachev finally extricated themselves from the policies and mind-sets that had imprisoned their predecessors, and were able to reconfigure Soviet-American relations after decades of confrontation.
- ISBN10 0374531420
- ISBN13 9780374531423
- Publish Date 2 September 2008 (first published 18 September 2007)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 22 June 2011
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc
- Format Paperback
- Pages 608
- Language English