From the Cold War to a New Era: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1983-1991 / Edition 2

by Don Oberdorfer

Overview

An updated edition of Don Oberdorfer's acclaimed book, The Turn

First published in 1991 as The Turn, this is the gripping narrative history of the most important international development of our time—the passage of the United States and the Soviet Union from the Cold War to a new era. Don Oberdorfer makes the reader a privileged behind-the-scenes spectator as U.S. and Soviet leaders take each other's measure and slowly set about their historic task. Oberdorfer writes diplomatic history with a vital difference: extraordinary intimacy made possible by comprehensive interviews with major figures on both sides and exclusive material from a host of other sources.

Now this widely praised book is available in a new, updated paperback edition that continues the narrative up to the dramatic collapse of the Soviet Union. Replete with revealing portraits of historical personalities, as riveting as a spy thriller, this is an enthralling record of history in the making.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801859229
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	05/29/1998
Edition description:	updated edition
Pages:	568
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.17(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Don Oberdorfer was a diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Post from 1976 until his retirement in 1993. His other books include From the Cold War to a New Era, also available in paperback from Johns Hopkins, and The Two Koreas.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Johns Hopkins Edition
Chapter 1. A Candle in the Cold
Chapter 2. The Ebb Tide
Chapter 3. The Chernenko Interlude
Chapter 4. Gorbachev Takes Command
Chapter 5. High Stakes at Reykjavik
Chapter 6. To the Washington Summit
Chapter 7. Reagan in Red Square
Chapter 8. The Revolution of 1989
Chapter 9. A New Era
Chapter 10. The End of the Soviet Union
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Notes and Sources
Index

Editorial Reviews

Gripping . . . Oberdorfer's detailed, balanced account describes the policies and personalities that actually changed history.
—Robert Hutchings, Journal of Cold War Studies

An excellent, balanced account of the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States during the years of the Reagan and Bush administrations . . . It provides an informative discussion of the demise of the Cold War and belongs among the shelves of anyone interested in that topic.
—Donald L. Zelman, H-Pol, H-NET Reviews

A reliable source of raw data for those interested in studying these important episodes in world politics from a variety of perspectives.
—Benjamin E. Goldsmith, Peace and Conflict

A highly readable and utterly persuasive account of why the Cold War came to end the way it did.
—Fred Barnes, American Spectator

The most thorough account yet of what we can all agree was a crucial era in world politics.
—Michael R. Beschloss, New York Times Book Review

Don Oberdorfer has dealt skillfully with an unusually complex period in contemporary history. His observations on 'the turn' in U.S.-Soviet relations provide an important and timely review of developments in the transformation from the Cold War.
—Henry Kissinger

The best account yet of how this astonishing transformation came about. Oberdorfer himself covered most of the important events along the way, and hence has been able to draw on his own direct impressions of what took place . . . An exciting and, in many ways, a strikingly encouraging historical narrative.
—John Lewis Gaddis, Washington Post Book World

Oberdorfer is master of the extended journalistic inquiry into events behind major news stories, a talent he turns to the careful reconstruction of developments between and within leaderships during these remarkable years.
—Foreign Affairs

From the Publisher

A reliable source of raw data for those interested in studying these important episodes in world politics from a variety of perspectives.

Peace and Conflict - Benjamin E. Goldsmith

Oberdorfer is master of the extended journalistic inquiry into events behind major news stories, a talent he turns to the careful reconstruction of developments between and within leaderships during these remarkable years.

Foreign Affairs

A highly readable and utterly persuasive account of why the Cold War came to end the way it did.

American Spectator - Fred Barnes

The most thorough account yet of what we can all agree was a crucial era in world politics.

New York Times Book Review - Michael R. Beschloss

Gripping . . . Oberdorfer's detailed, balanced account describes the policies and personalities that actually changed history.

Journal of Cold War Studies - Robert Hutchings

The best account yet of how this astonishing transformation came about. Oberdorfer himself covered most of the important events along the way, and hence has been able to draw on his own direct impressions of what took place . . . An exciting and, in many ways, a strikingly encouraging historical narrative.

Washington Post Book World - John Lewis Gaddis

Don Oberdorfer has dealt skillfully with an unusually complex period in contemporary history. His observations on 'the turn' in U.S.-Soviet relations provide an important and timely review of developments in the transformation from the Cold War.

Henry Kissinger

An excellent, balanced account of the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States during the years of the Reagan and Bush administrations . . . It provides an informative discussion of the demise of the Cold War and belongs among the shelves of anyone interested in that topic.

H-Pol, H-NET Reviews - Donald L. Zelman

A highly readable and utterly persuasive account of why the Cold War came to end the way it did.

— Fred Barnes

American Spectator

The best account yet of how this astonishing transformation came about. Oberdorfer himself covered most of the important events along the way, and hence has been able to draw on his own direct impressions of what took place... An exciting and, in many ways, a strikingly encouraging historical narrative.

— John Lewis Gaddis

Washington Post Book World

The most thorough account yet of what we can all agree was a crucial era in world politics.

— Michael R. Beschloss

New York Times Book Review

A reliable source of raw data for those interested in studying these important episodes in world politics from a variety of perspectives.

— Benjamin E. Goldsmith

Peace and Conflict

Gripping... Oberdorfer's detailed, balanced account describes the policies and personalities that actually changed history.

— Robert Hutchings

Journal of Cold War Studies