M. Leffler – The Cambridge History of the Cold War (3 Volumes)

Автор: M. Leffler
Название книги: The Cambridge History of the Cold War (3 Volumes)
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Военная история
Страницы: 1778
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Cold War has gradually
become history. In people’smemories, the epoch when a global rivalry between
the United States and the Soviet Union dominated international affairs has taken
on a role very much like that of the two twentieth-century world wars, as a
thing of the past, but also as progenitor of everything that followed. As with the
two world wars, we now also have the ability to see developments from the
perspectives of the different participants in the struggle. Declassification, however
incomplete, of a suggestive body of archival evidence from the former
Communist world as well as from the West makes this possible. The time,
therefore, is ripe to provide a comprehensive, systematic, analytic overview of
the conflict that shaped the international system and that affected most of
humankind during the second half of the twentieth century.
In this three-volume Cambridge History, the contributors seek to illuminate
the causes, dynamics, and consequences of the Cold War. We want to
elucidate how it evolved from the geopolitical, ideological, economic, and
sociopolitical environment of the two world wars and the interwar era. We
also seek to convey a greater appreciation of how the Cold War bequeathed
conditions, challenges, and conflicts that shape developments in the international
system today.
In order to accomplish the above goals, we take the Cambridge History of the
Cold War (CHCW) far beyond the narrow boundaries of diplomatic affairs. We
seek to clarify what mattered to the greatest number of people during the
Cold War. Indeed, the end of the conflict cannot be grasped without understanding
how markets, ideas, and cultural interactions affected political discourse,
diplomatic events, and strategic thinking. Consequently, we shall deal
at considerable length with the social, intellectual, and economic history of the
twentieth century. We shall discuss demography and consumption, women
and youth, science and technology, culture and race. The evolution of the
Cold War cannot be comprehended without attention to such matters.
The CHCW is an international history, covering the period from a wide
variety of geographical and national angles. While some chapters necessarily
center on an individual state or a bilateral relationship, there are many more
chapters that deal with a wider region or with global trends. Intellectually,
therefore, the CHCW aspires to contribute to a transformation of the field from
national – primarily American – views to a broader international approach.
The authors of the individual chapters have been selected because of their
academic standing in the field of Cold War studies, regardless of their institutional
affiliation, academic discipline, or national origin. Although the majority
of contributors are historians, there are chapters written by political
scientists, economists, and sociologists. While most contributors come from
the main research universities in North America and Britain – where Cold
War studies first blossomed as a field – the editors have also sought to engage
scholars working in different universities and research centers around the
globe. We have included a mixture of younger and more established scholars
in the field, thereby seeking to illuminate how scholarship has evolved as well
as where it is heading.
The CHCW aims at being comprehensive, comparative, and pluralist in its
approach. The contributors have deliberately been drawn from various
“schools” of thought and have been asked to put forward their own – often
distinctive – lines of argument, while indicating the existence of alternative
interpretations and approaches. Being a substantial work of reference, the
CHCW provides detailed, synthetic accounts of key periods and major thematic
topics, while striving for broad and original interpretations. The volumes
constitute a scholarly project, written by academics for fellow academics
as well as for policymakers, foreign affairs personnel, military officers, and
analysts of international relations. But we also hope the CHCW will serve as an
introduction and reference point for advanced undergraduate students and
for an educated lay public in many countries.
The present Cambridge History was first conceived in 2001 and has therefore
been almost ten years in the making. It has been a large, multinational project,
with seventy-three contributors from eighteen different countries. We have
met for three conferences and had a large number of hours on the phone and
in conference calls. Most chapters have been through three, if not four,
different versions, and have been read and commented upon – in depth –
not only by the editors, but also by other participants in the project. In the end,
it was the spirit of collaboration among people of very different backgrounds
and very different views that made it possible to bring this Cambridge History
to completion in the form that it now has.
While the editors’ first debt of gratitude therefore is to the contributors,
a large number of others also deserve thanks. Jeffrey Byrne, our editorial
assistant, did a remarkable job organizing meetings, keeping track of submissions,
and finding maps and illustrative matter, all while completing
his own doctoral thesis. He has been a model associate. Michael Watson,
our editor at Cambridge University Press, helped keep the project on track
throughout. Michael Devine, the director of the Harry S. Truman
Presidential Library, worked hard to set up the conferences and provide
essential funding for the project. At the London School of Economics
and Political Science (LSE), the wonderful administrative staff of the
International History Department, the Cold War Studies Centre, and LSE
IDEAS provided help far beyond the call of duty; Arne Westad is especially
grateful to Carol Toms and Tiha Franulovic for all the assistance rendered
him during a difficult period when he juggled the CHCW editorship with
being head of department and research center director.
Both editors are grateful to those who helped fund and organize the three
CHCW conferences, at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in
Independence, Missouri; at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in
Austin, Texas; and at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
in Washington, DC. Besides the Truman Library director, Michael Devine,
we wish to thank the director of the Johnson Library, Betty Sue Flowers, the
director of the History and Public Policy Program at the Wilson Center,
Christian Ostermann, and the director of the National Security Archive,
Thomas S. Blanton. We are also grateful to Philip Bobbitt, H. W. Brands,
Diana Carlin, Francis J. Gavin, Mark Lawrence, William Leogrande, Robert
Littwak, William Roger Louis, Dennis Merrill, Louis Potts, Elspeth Rostow,
Mary Sarotte, Strobe Talbott, Alan Tully, Steven Weinberg, and Samuel
Wells.
Being editors of such a large scholarly undertaking has been exhausting and
exhilarating in turn (and roughly in equal measure). The editors want to
thank each other for good comradeship throughout, and our families, students,
and colleagues for their patience, assistance, and good cheer. It has been
a long process, and we hope that the end product will serve its audiences well.
Melvyn P. Leffler