gTextsSelf-Improvement ProgramrantZONE Introduction to Statistics | Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals | Crisis of Church and State | Introduction to the Old Testament | Toricelli's In Our Own Words | A Cross of Iron | Coney Island at the Turn of the Century | Ancient Civilizations | Grenville's A History of the World in the Twentieth Century | Penguin History of the World | Dworkin's Law's Empire | The Ambassadors and America's Soviet Policy | From the Shadows | Eisenhower: Soldier and President | Theweleit's Male Fantasies | UFA Story | Howard Zinn's US History | Bovill's Golden Trade of the Moors | Manning's Slavery and African Life | African Economic History | Schulte-Sasse's Entertaining the Third Reich | Inside Nazi Germany | Chandler's Visible Hand | Alma Mater | Ideology and U.S. Foreign Policy | |
From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold Warby Robert M. Gates There are libraries' worth of books available on the Cold War, but few have the immediacy (and the humor) of Gates' compelling narrative. A great introduction to later Cold War history through a knowledgeable filter, this book is a must for all Cold War history buffs if only for the many entertaining stories it contains. One of my favorites involves the Sino-Soviet Split of the 1960s and 1970s. When Chinese and Soviet troops were on opposite sides of the river, the bored Chinese soldiers started "mooning" the Soviets on the other bank. After a few episodes of this, the Soviets ended this practice when they started holding up large pictures of Chairman Mao, so the Chinese soldiers would be "mooning" him. This low-level practical joke is one of the delightful accounts Gates includes, which can easily be used to liven up an essay or lecture. Gates, director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1991 to 1993, began in an entry level position and rose to the top. His insider's account of the Cold War, CIA operations and the unraveling of the Soviet Union is sprinkled with revelations including the fact that 1983 was the most dangerous year in U.S.-U.S.S.R. relations and that both the CIA and KGB sponsored countless "black operations" designed to embarrass and discredit the other side. Gates also reveals that he secretly met with KGB foreign operations chief Vladimir Kryuchkov on two separate occasions and how the CIA often acted in contempt of Congress. While none of this may come as a huge surprise, it never fails to shock when it's laid out in black and white by someone who was on the inside. Other Books to Consider:
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