The Cold War, 1945-65

by Joseph Smith

Published 20 July 1989
This study examines relations between the United States and Soviet Union from the end of the Second World War to the start of American military involvement in Vietnam. The author explores the origins of the Cold War, and considers whether Truman or Stalin was responsible for its outbreak. He describes the events from the creation of NATO in 1949 to the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The concluding chapters extend the analysis from the European to the global dimensions of the conflict, in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.