I was gifted this book after expressing interest in branching out into history as a subject to one of my friends. This was definitely a good way to begin getting into history. Not only is the Cold War itself very interesting, but the book was brief and very concise. It took me a full day of pretty much only reading to read this book, and at 164 pages it felt manageable, which helped to begin it.
This book not only went over the Cold War, but provided some historical context where necessary. However, there were some parts where I was confused, just because I only have a surface level knowledge of history. I’m not the most experienced in reviewing non-fiction so I can’t speak to the actual rating it should have. From what I read though, the text is engaging enough to maintain interest, even when talking about relatively dull aspects.
Spoilers, but the way they approached the Cold War was different from the standard approach you see in a school curriculum or an article, it focused not on the direct relations between the Soviet Union and the US; though they did cover those relations, but it focused on the way the US and Soviet Union looked at the rest of the world. This was very informative, and it also explained why the Cold War lasted as long as it did, which I feel was very handy.
I just think that my favorite part was that it didn’t assume prior knowledge, and attempted to inform me of everything complicated, while also explaining the simple things.
Just as a side note, they used the word “wholly” a lot, which was a little weird.