When I agreed to review this title I remarked that I might as well given that I had lived through more or less its entire chronological span. The Cold War dominated my childhood, and much of my adulthood too. I suppose that in some respects it still does. I recall discussions at home in the 1950s, followed during my first year at university by my best friend, who claimed never to have opened a newspaper in his life, buying a newspaper every morning during the Cuban missile crisis convinced that we were all about to be incinerated in a nuclear holocaust.
First we have had revelations about what went on behind the scenes in the Second World War and now we are constantly learning more about what went on and why during the Cold War. I find it difficult to explain to my grandchildren the background to and implications of life in Europe during the Cold War: they have enough trouble grasping the idea of the Berlin Wall. They seem to find it an extraordinary, even ridiculous, idea: so it was, but a vicious and tragic one too. Perhaps in the future they will have as much difficulty explaining early twenty‐first century global issues. The Cold War was played out primarily between two great post‐World War II super‐powers, the USA and the USSR, with a third, China, waiting in the wings. But the roles played by much of the rest of the world were far more than bit parts, especially for the Soviet satellite countries and the NATO allied countries. If the super powers had got it wrong enough we would all have been equally dead.
This encyclopedia bills itself as “the definitive reference work” on the Cold War. In terms of its coverage that is pretty true: its content comprises fact with well informed and generally judicious analysis. Of course, as time goes by, revisionist opinions will continue so that the term “definitive” is probably optimistic; but certainly any future reference work on the period will rely heavily on the contents of this one. It is pretty well all covered here.
The key events and personalities are all described and discussed as are large numbers of the supporting cast around the world. The post‐war British Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee gets a good article which does not just state the facts of his career and office but analyses very well the problems and issues he had to address and their wider implications in the international context. Hugh Gaitskell (later Labour Party leader), too, is subject of an article for his influence in the Party even though he never became British Prime Minister. All the events are here, including of course the iconic Berlin Airlift and such as the Kashmir Dispute and Arab‐Israeli Wars. Individual entries summarise and analyse each country's involvement in and influence on the Cold War. Spying was endemic to the Cold War and it too is fully discussed in a major and detailed article on espionage and in numerous articles on individual cases and spies: the Rosenbergs, Klaus Fuchs, the Cambridge Five (and individual articles on Philby, Blunt, Burgess and McLean), Penkovsky and many more. In a generally accurate work from start to finish, one disagreement I would point out is that the Rosenbergs were not “the only two civilians executed for espionage during the Cold War”. Presumably the phrase “in the USA” has been accidentally omitted.
Coverage is both broad and comprehensive: this is one book where not only do I comment that I have not found any surprising omissions, but am actually impressed by the enormous range and detail in the coverage. There is an interesting article on Literature which includes the popular genre of spy fiction, although discussing only Graham Greene, John Le Carre, Ian Fleming and Tom Clancy; I would have wished at least Len Deighton to have been added to the list. Still, the overview of English language and world literature responding to and influence by the Cold War is illuminating and a useful starting point for further research. Film, too, is discussed in similar manner. Other (particularly visual) art forms are not addressed. Both the literature and film articles address McCarthyism and the activities of the House Un‐American Activities Committee here in relation to US artistic endeavour, but also in specific articles on the subjects and on their protagonists and victims. An interesting article on Operation Paperclip which took a significant number of German scientists to the USA in the closing stages of World War II indicates some of the ethical issues involved.
I have indicated already that the coverage throughout is as analytical as it is factual. A bias towards the two major powers is correct: there are separate articles on the United States Air Force and on its Strategic Air Command, also on the Soviet Air Force; but there are also articles on the Air Forces of the UK and France, plus an overview article on Aircraft and another on Bombers, Strategic. Other countries have articles on their armed forces in general. A similar pattern is followed in other subjects. It really is all here in a remarkably wide‐ranging coverage: as final examples, a random glance down the list of contents shows articles on the Roman Catholic Church, Tanks, Sudan, KAL Flight 007, the Faeroe Islands and many more (1,290 articles we are told).
Volume 1 begins with three overview articles: The Cold War: A Personal Perspective, by John S. D. Eisenhower; Origins of the Cold War to 1950 and Course of the Cold War, both by Spencer C. Tucker. Volume 5 comprises a wide‐ranging selection of 171 documents arranged chronologically from a 1941 article by Henry R. Luce (founder of Time magazine) on The American Century to Mikhail Gorbachev on The New Thinking. The sources and subjects are wide‐ranging and add considerable interest and value to the whole work, as well as providing useful primary resources for students and scholars. Each is translated into English where appropriate and has a factual introduction indicating its significance. Appendices in Volume 4 give Rank Structures, Selected Cold War Militaries, a Cold War chronology, glossary and selected bibliography. Each article has its own reading list and cross‐references to other articles. Of the more than 200 contributors the great majority are academics, and while again the majority are from the USA there is also a fair representation from other countries.
Construction and layout of the set of volumes follow the high standard of the publisher. Each volume contains a contents list and a list of all the articles in the entire set as well as a 21‐page index to the whole work. General maps head each volume with some additional maps in certain articles. Monochrome photographs enhance and inform the textual content without overwhelming it.
There will never be a last word on this subject, although in other respects we probably came rather close to last words during its course. But for the foreseeable future this excellent set of volumes will be a prized educational, research and reference resource on what is effectively the history of the world in the second half of the twentieth century. It is warmly recommended for academic and general reference libraries.
