Summary of John Lewis Gaddis's The Cold War

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The war was won by a coalition of countries that were already at war with one another ideologically and geopolitically. The victors would have to cease being who they were or give up much of what they had hoped to attain by fighting the war. #2 The American and Russian armies, which met in 1945 on the banks of the Elbe River, had similarities in their birth in revolution and their global ideologies, but they differed in their distrust of concentrated authority. #3 The American and British governments were able to choose where, when, and in what circumstances they would fight, which greatly minimized the costs and risks of fighting. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, had no such advantages. It had only one war, and it was the most terrible one in all of history. #4 The Soviet Union had one other advantage as well, which was that it alone among the victors emerged from the war with tested leadership.