The first historical reexamination of the early years of the Cold War, tracing the evolution of the conflict.

1. The Cold War and the international history of the twentieth century Odd Arne Westad; 2. Ideology and the origins of the Cold War, 1917-1962 David C. Engerman; 3. The world economy and the Cold War in the middle of the twentieth century Charles S. Maier; 4. The emergence of an American grand strategy, 1945-1952 Melvyn P. Leffler; 5. The Soviet Union and the world, 1944-1953 Vladimir O. Pechatnov; 6. Britain and the Cold War, 1945-1955 Anne Deighton; 7. The division of Germany, 1945-1949 Hans-Peter Schwarz; 8. The Marshall Plan and the creation of the west William I. Hitchcock; 9. The Sovietization of eastern Europe, 1944-1953 Norman Naimark; 10. The Cold War in the Balkans, 1945-1956 Svetozar Rajak; 11. The birth of the People's Republic of China and the road to the Korean War Niu Jun; 12. Japan, the United States, and the Cold War, 1945-1960 Sayuri Guthrie-Shimizu; 13. The Korean War William Stueck; 14. US national security policy from Eisenhower to Kennedy Robert J. McMahon; 15. Soviet foreign policy, 1953-1962 Vojtech Mastny; 16. East central Europe, 1953-1956 Csaba Békés; 17. The Sino-Soviet Alliance and the Cold War in Asia, 1954-1962 Shu Guang Zhang; 18. Nuclear weapons and the escalation of the Cold War, 1945-1962 David Holloway; 19. Culture and the Cold War in Europe Jessica C. E. Gienow-Hecht; 20. Cold War mobilization and domestic politics: the United States Laura McEnaney; 21. Cold War mobilisation and domestic politics: the Soviet Union David Priestland; 22. Decolonization, the global south, and the Cold War, 1919-1962 Mark Philip Bradley; 23. Oil, resources, and the Cold War, 1945-1962 David S. Painter; Bibliography.