Cold War - 9781851098477

The Cold War, declares Tucker (Senior Fellow in Military History at ABC-CLIO and formerly of Virginia Military Institute), was "the single most important event of the second half of the twentieth century." In this five-volume encyclopedia containing some 1000 alphabetical entries from Abdullah, King of Jordan, to Zorin, Valerian Aleksandrovich (1902-1986), a Soviet diplomat, the focus is on diplomatic and military developments and issues, but some coverage has been included of social and economic implications as well. Entries on prominent people, major institutions and organizations, wars and diplomatic conferences, and political movements are included. Entries on most countries of the world are included and, for the most significant, separate entries on their military establishments are presented as well. The first volume opens with eight general maps, but a number of additional maps are included with the entries. Also included in the first volume are three general essays, two of which provide general narratives concerning the origins and course of the Cold War, and another of which provides a personal perspective on the Cold War from John S. D. Eisenhower, a retired US military officer who is the son of American President Dwight Eisenhower. The fifth volume, which is separately edited by Priscilla Roberts (Centre for American Studies, U. of Hong Kong, China) is a documentary reader of 171 primary source documents, ranging from Henry R. Luce's influential essay "The American Century" to Mikhail Gorbachev's declaration of Perestroika and Glasnost. A preponderance of documents, naturally enough, come from Soviet and American leaders, but other documents such as Ho Chi Minh's declaration of Vietnamese independence do find inclusion. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)