A failed empire : the Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev / Vladislav M. Zubok.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zubok, V. M. (Vladislav Martinovich)

Series:

New Cold War history.

The new Cold War history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cold War.

Soviet Union--Politics and government--1953-1985.

Soviet Union.

Soviet Union--Politics and government--1985-1991.

Soviet Union--Foreign relations--1945-1991.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (487 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Western interpretations of the Cold War--both realist and neoconservative--have erred by exaggerating either the Kremlin's pragmatism or its aggressiveness, argues Vladislav Zubok. Explaining the interests, aspirations, illusions, fears, and misperceptions of the Kremlin leaders and Soviet elites, Zubok offers a Soviet perspective on the greatest standoff of the twentieth century.Using recently declassified Politburo records, ciphered telegrams, diaries, and taped conversations, among other sources, Zubok explores the origins of the superpowers' confrontation under Stalin, Khrushchev's

Contents:

1. The Soviet people and Stalin between war and peace, 1945

2. Stalin's road to the Cold War, 1945-1948

3. Stalemate in Germany, 1945-1953

4. Kremlin politics and "peaceful coexistence," 1953-1957

5. The nuclear education of Khrushchev, 1953-1963

6. The Soviet home front : first cracks, 1953-1968

7. Brezhnev and the road to detente, 1965-1972

8. Detente's decline and Soviet overreach, 1973-1979

9. The old Guard's exit, 1980-1987

10. Gorbachev and the end of Soviet power, 1988-1991.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [417]-453) and index.

ISBN:

0-8078-8759-5

OCLC:

642661020