The Atlantic and Its Enemies: A History of the Cold War

‘Opinionated, mischievous, enthralling … rattles across one world-shaking scene of upheaval after another

… an exhilarating read’

Boyd Tonkin, Independent

‘Lively, idiosyncratic, rollicking’

Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Observer

This is Norman Stone’s personal, uncompromising and provocative history of how the West won the Cold War. With wit and brio, he offers a unique perspective on events from Vietnam to glasnost, and draws on his own experiences - such as his time in a Slovak prison - to show both the tragedy and the absurdity of the struggle that divided the world for over forty years.

‘Masterly

… the one book that anyone who wants to understand the cold war must read. Using his vast but lightly worn learning, Stone conjures up the Marshall Plan, the death of Stalin, Khrushchev and Berlin-Cuba-Vietnam, the Sixties, Nixon in China, Reagan and Thatcher, the collapse of communism and the non-ending of history that ensued’ John Gray, New Statesman

‘A swashbuckling survey of the cold war’

Mark Mazower, Financial Times

‘Facts, anecdotes, bon mots and sparkling insights

… he has a terrific eye for detail, bringing to life everything from the ruins of Germany to Ronald Reagan’s White House with a wonderfully waspish turn of phrase’

Economist