Europe and the Cold War, 1945-91

The introduction to this title carefully analyses the crucial events in the years 1944-47, which led to the break down of the Second World War alliance between the 'Big Three' and the onset of the Cold War.

The author goes on to show how the Cold War shaped post-war Europe through the division of Germany and created two great military and economic blocs.

The narrative discusses the differing definitions of what the Cold War was, paying particular attention to the historical debates on the various aspects of the Cold War.

Recent historical research based on newly released material in the former Soviet and Eastern European archives, is used to explain the origins of the Cold War, the Berlin blockade of 1948-9, the Hungarian revolt of 1956, the Second Berlin crisis of 1958-61 and the collapse of Communism in 1989-91.

The updated study guides provide a firm basis for answering differentiated source-based and extended writing questions.