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History In An Hour
The Cold War: History in an Hour
Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour.
From the end of World War Two to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia and America eyed each other with suspicion and hostility as the world lived in the shadow of the Cold War. As post-war Europe was rebuilt, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin struggled to maintain peace among the former Eastern and Western Allies. Two ideologies, two political systems, two cultures, two superpowers became entrenched in a fight for dominance, each firm in the belief that history would prove them right.
The Cold War: History in an Hour is the concise account of the political tensions that arose as the world rebuilt after World War Two – an era beset by the constant fear of nuclear weapons and the looming threat of a Third World War.
Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour…
From the end of World War Two to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia and America eyed each other with suspicion and hostility as the world lived in the shadow of the Cold War. As post-war Europe was rebuilt, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin struggled to maintain peace among the former Eastern and Western Allies. Two ideologies, two political systems, two cultures, two superpowers became entrenched in a fight for dominance, each firm in the belief that history would prove them right.
The Cold War: History in an Hour is the concise account of the political tensions that arose as the world rebuilt after World War Two – an era beset by the constant fear of nuclear weapons and the looming threat of a Third World War.
Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour…
87 pages, Audiobook
First published January 5, 2010
36 people are currently reading
242 people want to read
About the author
Rupert Colley
32 books131 followersFounder, writer and Series Editor of History In An Hour (http://historyinanhour.com), owned by HarperCollins UK, and now author of two novels.
The first, "My Brother the Enemy", a novella, is set during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
The second, "This Time Tomorrow", set during and following World War One, is a compelling story of war, brotherly love, passion and betrayal.
My third novel, "The Black Maria", is set in Moscow in 1935, the height of Stalin's reign, about love crushed by the machine.
The first, "My Brother the Enemy", a novella, is set during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
The second, "This Time Tomorrow", set during and following World War One, is a compelling story of war, brotherly love, passion and betrayal.
My third novel, "The Black Maria", is set in Moscow in 1935, the height of Stalin's reign, about love crushed by the machine.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
November 11, 2022
What happened after World War II? How did Russia and America become superpowers? What happened to the USSR in 1991? How did the United States and the Soviet Union compete with each other to become the best in space flight capability? You will get the answers to all these questions and more in this book.
May 1, 2023
Tuhle sérii si dám asi před státnicemi celou, tak se připravte na hoodně tirulů. Ale je to skvělý! stručný, jasný a přehledný.
4/5*
4/5*
April 24, 2021
An excellent overview of the Cold War period. Factual and fairly balanced in examining a complex range of issues and events spanning countries and decades. You may want to look at a timeline at times though to keep up with names and events.
Well paced and narrated.
Divided into four chapters over 86 minutes. The four chapters seem randomly assigned. Within each ‘chapter’ there are sections which the narrator identifies further sectioning the narration. These are helpful to progress the chronology but also the thematic elements.
Well paced and narrated.
Divided into four chapters over 86 minutes. The four chapters seem randomly assigned. Within each ‘chapter’ there are sections which the narrator identifies further sectioning the narration. These are helpful to progress the chronology but also the thematic elements.
October 10, 2024
I like how the thorough history has been covered carefully in such a short read
February 16, 2016
very good read, as someone who saw the Berlin wall fall on tv. to learn more about the cold war than I currently know was very interesting, it also makes you think as well
March 12, 2021
Bardzo dobre podsumowanie historii Zimnej Wojny. To dziś wydaje się nieprawdopodobne, ale również ja jestem dzieckiem Zimnej Wojny, urodziłem się za czasów jej trwania i parę lat życia jeszcze przeżyłem podczas jej trwania. Dziś świat jest już całkiem inny i co prawda istnieje jeszcze napięcie między Rosją, Stanami Zjednoczonymi czy też nawet Chinami, jednak na pewno nie grozi nam zagłada nuklearna jak podczas Zimnej Wojny.
March 17, 2022
صورة عن مجمل الاحداث بعد الحرب العالمية الثانية ، تشكيل الاتحاد السوفييتي ، انقسام العالم لقطبين أساسيين الولايات المتحدة الامريكية و اتحاد الجمهوريات الاشتراكية السوفيتية وعملية المنافسة بينهما بمختلف المجالات ولاسيما العلمية و الاستخباراتية و غزو الفضاء ، ثم مجمل الاحداث التي أدت إلى تفكك الاتحاد السوفيتي وانتهاء هذه الحرب البارد بين الطرفين لتصبح أمريكا القوة المسيطرة على الساحة الدولية
February 7, 2018
I find that I don't entirely like these. They are good overviews and I'll keep listening. Maybe I'm just learning that I dont care as much with these topics. Because, I literally have no interest in Ancient Egypt and little to no interest in the Cold War. So, affirmation hour.
December 3, 2017
By far the most interesting in the series - infirmative and holisutc view on the events during the cold war.
April 7, 2019
A sensible overview, recommended for someone who wants to know the basics and why the Cold War started and ended.
August 9, 2019
Right to the point! Interesting read that covers The Cold War, giving you enough knowledge and a want to delve in deeper.
October 3, 2019
Satisfactory as per the title. Presents events in chronological order.
June 19, 2020
Listened to the audio version of the book.
December 16, 2021
Outstanding clarity: excellent ‘joins the dots’. Sure, more nuances are necessary and that’s why one reads fuller works. But this is a great framework reference.
December 5, 2022
Güzel bir özet, temiz ve açık. Aşağı yukarı her noktaya üstünkörü değiniyor.
Read
February 11, 2025Ljodbok
February 16, 2025
Really informative without being full of jargon
I’ve read a few of these one hour books by this author and always enjoy them
I’ve read a few of these one hour books by this author and always enjoy them
October 19, 2016
A great book to get a very quick understanding of a topic! It was the perfect starting point for a history assignment that gave me the prior knowledge needed to branch off and find out more!
September 11, 2017
the good:
- a quick, short, and easy read
- manages to pack in lots of information
- clear and concise
the not-so-good:
*i understand that many of these flaws are just limitations of the format, but nonetheless they were still unsatisfying.
- there are typos, grammatical errors, and missing punctuation throughout
- a lot of statements are left unexplained, e.g. "this country did xyz" but without explaining why or to what effect, which is confusing.
- clear american and anti-soviet bias
- spends excessive amounts of time on certain events at the expense of other interesting and important events elsewhere
overall:
- probably not the most well-written book. nonetheless, i liked it. i learned a lot about an important topic that i previously knew very little about. despite it's limitations, i would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't know much about the cold war, but is interested in getting a quick and informative overview of it.
- a quick, short, and easy read
- manages to pack in lots of information
- clear and concise
the not-so-good:
*i understand that many of these flaws are just limitations of the format, but nonetheless they were still unsatisfying.
- there are typos, grammatical errors, and missing punctuation throughout
- a lot of statements are left unexplained, e.g. "this country did xyz" but without explaining why or to what effect, which is confusing.
- clear american and anti-soviet bias
- spends excessive amounts of time on certain events at the expense of other interesting and important events elsewhere
overall:
- probably not the most well-written book. nonetheless, i liked it. i learned a lot about an important topic that i previously knew very little about. despite it's limitations, i would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't know much about the cold war, but is interested in getting a quick and informative overview of it.
January 15, 2016
This informational novel hit on several key factors I believe that contributed to the Cold War. That is quite an accomplishment especially when it is history in and hour type of book on such a topic that has confused so many. Pros being that the it got straight to the main point and turning points in the was which was something I liked a lot.But, a con being that I wished that the book was just a little well more written and included some smaller details that in my opinion were major contributors to the Cold War. Then again the book is supposed to give the reader as much information in as little time as possible, which I believe it nailed on succeeding. In summary, I found this novel to be a help in refreshing my memory of the Cold War, while added some extra points to the old data bank.
May 28, 2014
3.5 Stars
Succinct yet virtually all-encompassing, this book is much like 'The Cold War' by John Lewis Gaddis minus the evaluative interpretation and with less 'style'. Good little book for revision or to learn something new and I will likely buy more of the books in the series assuming they are of this standard.
It did take me more than an hour to read which is both a good and bad thing I guess!
Succinct yet virtually all-encompassing, this book is much like 'The Cold War' by John Lewis Gaddis minus the evaluative interpretation and with less 'style'. Good little book for revision or to learn something new and I will likely buy more of the books in the series assuming they are of this standard.
It did take me more than an hour to read which is both a good and bad thing I guess!
June 24, 2015
Really good!
Easy to read, with no problems with the facts. Well informed. My only two buts are that he sometimes jump from rate to date, I know it is because he was trying to talk about each chapter subject, nevertheless this sometimes can be a little confusing. My second but is that is one-sided, from the American perspective. Even though is a really good book, plus it adds something that I think is really hard to achieve, a really good narrative!
Easy to read, with no problems with the facts. Well informed. My only two buts are that he sometimes jump from rate to date, I know it is because he was trying to talk about each chapter subject, nevertheless this sometimes can be a little confusing. My second but is that is one-sided, from the American perspective. Even though is a really good book, plus it adds something that I think is really hard to achieve, a really good narrative!
November 25, 2012
This is a great little read which helped give me some background on this subject. It does what you expect, skimming through the main points giving you a good starting point for more research. I especially liked the mini biogs of the main players at the end. Very helpful. Will consider reading more in this series for sure.
October 1, 2013
A great read along with WWI and WWII. I finally understand what happened and why from the end of WWII until 1989. Really useful books to decide if you want to read any deeper on these subjects.
June 21, 2016
Nice book give a cool over view of what happened in that time.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews