The Cambridge History of the Cold War 3 Volume Set: Volume 3: Endings

This volume examines the evolution of the Cold War from the Helsinki Conference of 1975 until the Soviet collapse in 1991. Leading scholars analyze the economic, social, cultural, religious, technological, and geopolitical factors that shaped the policies that ended the Cold War, looking at the personalities and policies of Carter and Reagan, Brezhnev and Gorbachev, Thatcher, Kohl, and Deng Xiaoping. They show how events throughout the world shaped the evolution of Soviet-American relations and also explore the legacies of the super-power confrontation in a comparative and trans-national perspective. Penetrating chapters examine how the Cold War affected and was affected by the environment, the global economy, consumer capitalism, human rights and non-governmental organizations. The authors also deal with demographic trends, capital flows, multilateral institutions, and geopolitical configurations. This is international history at its best: emphasizing social, intellectual, economic and geostrategic trends without losing focus on personalities, politics, and human agency.

Melvyn P. Leffler is Edward Stettinius Professor of American History at the Department of History, University of Virginia. His previous publications include To Lead the World: American Strategy after the Bush Doctrine (2008, as co-editor), For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War (2007, winner of the AHA George Louis Beer Prize) and A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration and the Cold War (1992, winner of the Bancroft Prize, the Robert Ferrell Prize and the Herbert Hoover Book Award).

Odd Arne Westad is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His previous publications include The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times (2005, winner of the Bancroft Prize, the APSA New Political Science Prize and the Akira Ireye Award), Decisive Encounters: The Chinese Civil War, 1946–1950 (2003) and Brothers in Arms: The Rise and Fall of the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1945–1963 (1999, as editor).