Waterstones Heinemann Advanced History: Cold War in Europe and Asia

Author: Unknown person

Rating: 5

Review: Great book for the Cold War. It helps with revision and I would recommend this book. I bought a used one and was not disappointed. So if your struggling with Cold War revision I would advise you purchase this book. You would need to revise the breakdown of the USSR in 1990. You would need to use other resources

Author: Robby Sylianteng

Rating: 4

Review: Let me make things clear, just because you've bought this book doesn't mean that you have to limit your Cold War readings to it. I've used this despite the fact that I actually did IB History HL (A lot more difficult than what you would ever expect from A-levels) and this was one of the most helpful Cold War books i have had to read over the past two years. Also, my final mark for History HL was a 6 - just a point behind the highest possible mark which is a 7. I must reiterate that further reading would be required after having finished this book. But that's the true beauty of it. It's so simple and so concise that when you read more complex works such as John Lewis Gaddis' 'The Cold War', you end up analysing as you read - making valuable connections between Gaddis' points and Philips' conclusions. Philips' 'The Cold War' provides its reader with the fundamental knowledge required to understand the more basic and simplistic elements of this 20th Century war. The problem I've noticed about other reviewers is that they tend to rate this book with the assumption that this isn't meant for easy reading. Which is an absolutely wrong approach, because it is. I recommend this to anyone who's thinking of delving into Cold War studies, General History, or International Relations. But once again, let me just say that this book is best treated as a stepping stone to more complex history books rather than a main source.