The End of the Cold War

An acclaimed examination of the latter years of the Cold War, from one of the finest historians of modern Russia. ‘Absorbingly written . . . this book is destined to become a classic of Cold War historical literature’ – International Affairs After decades of struggles between the USSR and the US over every aspect of security, economics and ideas, the Cold War had seemed like a permanent fixture in global politics. No Western or Soviet politician foresaw that the stand-off would end in their lifetimes, and even the 1985 election of Mikhail Gorbachëv did little to quell the fear of global nuclear Armageddon. But just four years later, the Berlin Wall was dismantled and perestroika spread throughout the former Soviet bloc. It was a sea change in world history, which resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Drawing on a wealth of pioneering archival research, The End of the Cold War is a gripping investigation into these final years. A story of American pressure and Soviet long-term decline and over-stretch, it pinpoints the astonishing relationships between President Ronald Reagan and Gorbachëv, Secretary of State George Shultz and the USSR's last Foreign Affairs Minister, Eduard Shevardnadze, who found a way to cooperate during times of extraordinary change around the world. A small, skillful group of statesmen, they were determined to end the Cold War on their watch, irreversibly transforming the global geopolitical landscape. In true Robert Service style – authoritative, compelling and meticulously researched – this is political history at its best. ‘Our leading historian of the Soviet Union . . . magisterial’ – The Observer

The Cold War had seemed like a permanent fixture in global politics, and until its denouement, no Western or Soviet politician foresaw that the stand-off between the two superpowers - after decades of struggle over every aspect of security, politics, economics and ideas - would end in their lifetimes. Even after March 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union it was not preordained that global nuclear Armageddon could or would be averted peaceably. But just four years later, the Berlin Wall was dismantled and perestroika spread throughout the former Soviet bloc. It was a sea change in world history, which resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Drawing on pioneering archival research, Robert Service's gripping new investigation of the final years of the Cold War pinpoints the astonishing relationships among President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, Secretary of State George Shultz and the USSR's last Foreign Affairs Minister, Eduard Shevardnadze, who found a way to cooperate during times of extraordinary change around the world. The story is of American pressure and Soviet long-term decline and over-stretch. The End of the Cold War shows how that small, skillful group of statesmen were determined to end the Cold War on their watch. In the process, they irreversibly transformed the global geopolitical landscape. Authoritative, compelling and meticulously researched, this is political history at its best.