The Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union 1917-1991For half of the twentieth century, the Cold War gripped the world. International relations everywhere and domestic policy in scores of nations pivoted around this central point, the American Soviet rivalry. Even today, much of the world's diplomacy grapples with chaos created by the Cold War's sudden disappearance. Here indeed is a subject that defies easy understanding. Now comes a definitive account, a startlingly fresh, clear eyed, comprehensive