The Cold War's Killing Fields: Rethinking the Long Peace

Chamberlin (history, Columbia Univ.; The Global Offensive) convincingly shows that the Cold War (1945–90) was neither cold nor solely a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Twenty million people were killed in bloodbaths that placed political ideology and religious fundamentalism above citizens' welfare, as emerging third-world nations sought independence from former colonial empires. The author asserts that in terms of carnage and destruction, the Cold War must be considered along with both World Wars. Chamberlin identifies three waves of Cold War mass conflicts: East Asia (1945–59), Global Communism (1961–79), and Religious Wars (1975–90), and provides vivid descriptions of specific battles from each period in China, Korea, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the greater Middle East. This deeply researched account draws on recently declassified CIA records that will shock those who view the conflict as an exercise in superpower diplomacy.