The Atlantic and Its Enemies: A History of the Cold War

(Paperback)

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An extremely characterful, surprising and beautifully written account of the world after 1945 Those who survived the Second World War stared out onto a devastated, morally ruined world. Much of Europe and Asia had been so ravaged that it was unclear whether any form of normal life could ever be established again. Everywhere the 'Atlantic' world (the USA, Britain and a handful of allies) was on the defensive and its enemies on the move. For every Atlantic success there seemed to be a dozen Communist or 'Third World' successes, as the USSR and its proxies crushed dissent and humiliated the United States on both military and cultural grounds. For all the astonishing productivity of the American, Japanese and mainland western European economies (setting aside the fiasco of Britain's implosion), most of the world was either under Communist rule or lost in a violent stagnancy that seemed doomed to permanence. Then, suddenly, the Atlantic won - economically, ideologically, militarily - with astonishing speed and completeness.

Reviews

This book is a brilliant chronicling of the Atlantic's counter-attack and its dsorry prelude - a forthright, brave history, full of wit and humanity, and readable to a degree that will delight all but the green-eyed -- Allan Mallinson * The Times *
An intellectual autobigoraphy concealed within a major history book ... a powerful alternative to the Left 'liberal' reading of Cold War history, without sounding in the least triumphalist -- Michael Burleigh * The Spectator *
Stone's eye for the telling detail gives his account of the cold war years an edge of authenticity lacking from more conventional histories ... the one book that anyone who wants to understand the cold war as it developed must read -- John Gray * New Statesman *
He paints on a broad canvas, showing how the Cold War unfolded ... [he] also delves into less obvious topics for a Cold War book ... Mr. Stone doesn't stop to address the contemporary crisis, but The Atlantic and Its Enemies is an inspiring reminder that the West has risen to meet such challenges before, helped at crucial moments by bold leaders -- William Anthony Hay * Wall Street Journal *

Author Bio

Norman Stone is one of Britain's most celebrated historians. He is the author of The Eastern Front, 1914-1917, Hitler, Europe Transformed and World War One- A Short History. He has taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Bilkent, where he is now Director of the Turkish-Russian Centre.