{"title":"History--Modern--20th Century--Cold War","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"parallel-lives-a-love-story-from-a-lost-continent","title":"Parallel Lives: A Love Story from a Lost Continent","description":"\u003cp\u003eBest-selling novelist and art historian Iain Pears enchants readers with the real-life romance between Larissa Salmina, a Russian art curator, and Francis Haskell, a British art historian. His fabulous book brings into sharp focus the strange world of the Soviet Union, and the even stranger world of a certain variety of the English elite. It seeks to show how leaving the Soviet Union was a sacrifice for her and how it was the English man, not the Russian woman, who was set free because of their meeting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLarissa was born in northern Russia, the daughter of a Soviet army officer from a noble family who survived the siege of Leningrad by eating cats' tails and being evacuated over the ice. Francis was the grandson of an Iraqi Jew, forever feeling out of place in his adopted country of England. \u003cem\u003eParallel Lives\u003c\/em\u003e is the story of how these two star-crossed lovers met, instantly understand each other, and were prepared to risk heartbreak, and in her case, retribution, to be together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEscaping Leningrad, teenage Larissa lived in the Urals surrounded by Spanish revolutionaries, and after the war rose to become the youngest commissar in the Soviet Union and keeper of Italian drawings at the Hermitage. She took the Russian contribution to the Venice Biennale in 1962 and lost it on the journey. She briefly absconded with her supervisor's corpse, developed a useful sideline in forgery, and stole (\"I didn't steal it. I liberated it\") a Matisse from the Italian government. Francis was a distinguished art historian, comfortably at home in King's College Cambridge. But he was lonely, self-doubting, and had all but abandoned hope of falling in love. Larissa swept away all the years of anguish in one meal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIain Pears, who was neighbors with Larissa and Francis in Oxford, knew both his principal characters well. In telling Larissa and Francis's love story, he is also capturing the Europe of a bygone era: a world of dancers, exiles, and the occasional spy, of artists, aristocrats, and academics. It is a tale of a world we have lost.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1324073772\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781324073772\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Pears, Iain, N\/A, N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: W. W. Norton \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"W. W. 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While Russia may no longer be Communist, Communism and sympathy for Communist ideas have proliferated across the globe. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In\u003ci\u003e To Overthrow the World\u003c\/i\u003e, Sean McMeekin investigates the evolution of Communism from a seductive ideal of a classless society into the ruling doctrine of tyrannical regimes. Tracing Communism's ascent from theory to practice, McMeekin ranges from Karl Marx's writings to the rise and fall of the USSR under Stalin to Mao's rise to power in China to the acceleration of Communist or Communist-inspired policies around the world in the twenty-first century. McMeekin argues, however, that despite the endurance of Communism, it remains deeply unpopular as a political form. Where it has arisen, it has always arisen by force. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Blending historical narrative with cutting-edge scholarship, \u003ci\u003e To Overthrow the World \u003c\/i\u003erevolutionizes our understanding of the evolution of Communism--an idea that seemingly cannot die.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1541601963\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781541601963\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: McMeekin, Sean, N\/A, N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Basic Books\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"HardCover (Sep 2024)","offer_id":45658295173317,"sku":"9781541601963","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781541601963.jpg?v=1768899427"},{"product_id":"beyond-the-wall-a-history-of-east-germany","title":"Beyond the Wall: A History of East Germany","description":"\u003cb\u003eAN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - From the ashes of the Second World War to the fall of the Berlin Wall, \"an expansive and generous history\" of East Germany (\u003ci\u003eNew Republic\u003c\/i\u003e) \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 1990, a country disappeared. When the Iron Curtain fell, East Germany ceased to be. For over forty years, from the ruin of the Second World War to the cusp of a new millennium, the German Democratic Republic presented a radically different Germany than what had come before and what exists today. Socialist solidarity, secret police, central planning, barbed wire: this was a Germany forged on the fault lines of ideology and geopolitics. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eBeyond the Wall\u003c\/i\u003e, acclaimed historian Katja Hoyer sets aside the usual Cold War caricatures of the GDR to offer a kaleidoscopic new vision of this vanished country, revealing the rich political, social, and cultural landscape that existed amid oppression and hardship. Drawing on a vast array of never-before-seen interviews and documents, this is the definitive history of the other Germany, beyond the Wall.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1541606361\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781541606364\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Hoyer, Katja\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Basic Books\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Feb 2025)","offer_id":46079931580613,"sku":"9781541606364","price":20.89,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781541606364.jpg?v=1776033125"},{"product_id":"the-jfk-conspiracy-the-secret-plot-to-kill-kennedy-and-why-it-failed","title":"The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy--And Why It Failed","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eINSTANT \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER - AN AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR 2025\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e bestselling authors of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Nazi Conspiracy \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eand \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Lincoln Conspiracy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e comes a true, little-known story about the \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003efirst\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e assassination attempt on John F. Kennedy, right before his inauguration.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKennedy, the thirty-fifth president of the United States, is often ranked among Americans' most well-liked presidents. Yet what most Americans don't know is that JFK's historic presidency almost ended before it began--at the hands of a disgruntled sociopathic loner armed with dynamite. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOn December 11, 1960, shortly after Kennedy's election and before his inauguration, a retired postal worker named Richard Pavlick waited in his car--a parked Buick--on a quiet street in Palm Beach, Florida. Pavlick knew the president-elect's schedule. He knew when Kennedy would leave his house. He knew where Kennedy was going. 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Meltzer and Mensch are at the top of their game with this brilliant exploration of what could've been for one of the most compelling leaders of the 20th century.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1250790573\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781250790576\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Meltzer, Brad, Mensch, Josh\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Flatiron Books\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Flatiron Books","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (Jan 2025)","offer_id":46080117539013,"sku":"9781250790576","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781250790576.jpg?v=1776034595"},{"product_id":"sweet-victory-how-the-berlin-airlift-divided-east-and-west","title":"Sweet Victory: How the Berlin Airlift Divided East and West","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe fascinating story of how a forgotten group of airmen--who had spent World War II dropping Allied bombs on Berlin--risked their lives in 1948-49 dropping chocolate bars from the sky.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAfter Hitler's defeat in World War II, Europe's ruins were divided between East and West. The center of the struggle for influence was Berlin, split between the victorious Allied powers: the Soviets on one side and the Anglo-American and French forces on the other. Berlin was closer to the Soviet border than Paris, a strategic springboard for Stalin to rule Central Europe. In June of 1948, three years after the war, Stalin made his move to take complete control of the city. Laying siege, he blocked off supplies and transport to the Western sectors. The stakes could not have been higher: the Russian leader risked nuclear conflict. A false move--even one American plane shot down by Russian fighters--could mean the atomic drop that American generals were contemplating. Was Berlin worth this enormous risk, and how would the West react? The Soviets expected West Berlin would be easy to win. They were stunned when their adversaries launched, instead, a daring operation to supply Berlin by plane. With 277,500 flights in total, one landing in Berlin every three minutes, British and American pilots delivered 2.3 million tons of essentials such as coal and flour and, famously, candy and chocolate. The Berlin Airlift became the largest air operation in history. The airlift, meanwhile, transformed West Germans from foes into willing partners against Stalin. In this sense, the first victory against Germany came in 1945--when the Allied powers pummeled it into submission. The sweet victory came three years later when the Western powers conquered the hearts and minds of their former enemy. The Berlin Airlift is one of the century's most dangerous and least understood crises of the twentieth century. Inexperienced and armed to the teeth, the world's superpowers surveyed each other for the first time. 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Despite wage discrimination, grueling hours, strict quotas, and harsh conditions, the Plantation's 100 college-educated Black women made invaluable breakthroughs in United States' Soviet intelligence even as the Red Scare and the backlash against civil rights eroded their democratic freedoms at home. Their underappreciated top-secret work led directly to victory over the USSR and the end of the Cold War thirty years later.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this thrilling history\u003cem\u003e, \u003c\/em\u003eSarah Valentine tells their remarkable story in full for the first time. \u003cem\u003eDecoding the Devil\u003c\/em\u003e pays long overdue tribute to these little-known Black cryptologists' critical contributions to national security during the civil rights era, and offers a fresh perspective on the Cold War and American heroes of color.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 006330547X\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780063305472\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Valentine, Sarah\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Harper\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (Jun 2026)","offer_id":46099824935109,"sku":"9780063305472","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780063305472.jpg?v=1776645655"},{"product_id":"stalins-apostles-the-cambridge-five-and-the-making-of-the-soviet-empire","title":"Stalin's Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe riveting story of the ring of spies known as the Cambridge Five, who infiltrated the highest levels of the British establishment and helped Stalin cement a half century of Soviet domination over Eastern Europe. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"A brilliant book. Deep research and dazzling writing make \u003ci\u003eStalin's Apostles\u003c\/i\u003e an appallingly entertaining read. A definitive work on one of the 20th century's most treacherous conspiracies.\" ―Tim Weiner, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The Cambridge Five was the most infamous spy ring in history. Its members--Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, and John Cairncross--met at university, amid the left-wing ferment overtaking British campuses between the World Wars. The Five were soon recruited by Soviet agents and pledged allegiance to Stalin, and each quickly took up a place in the British government. From the 1930s, they funneled top-secret intelligence to the USSR, some so sensitive that their Soviet handlers feared a double cross. Their unmasking in 1951 rocked Britain, helping to end a chummy, boys' club stranglehold on the country's institutions of power. 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Their work invaluably aided Stalin as he sought to build a Red Empire, condemning millions across Eastern Europe to decades of repression, violence, and death. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Rife with code names, smuggled documents, clandestine rendezvous, and copious amounts of gin, \u003ci\u003eStalin's Apostles\u003c\/i\u003e wields impeccable research and storytelling and all the thrilling details and high tragedy of a classic spy thriller. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A definitive and important account of the most infamous spy ring ever ... told with the propulsive force of a spy novel.\" ―Joseph Finder, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e-bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Oligarch's Daughter\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 154170438X\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781541704381\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Senior, Antonia\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: PublicAffairs\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"PublicAffairs","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (May 2026)","offer_id":46100007780549,"sku":"9781541704381","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781541704381.jpg?v=1776647162"},{"product_id":"the-cold-war-a-world-history","title":"The Cold War: A World History","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe definitive history of the Cold War and its impact around the world\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e We tend to think of the Cold War as a bounded conflict: a clash of two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, born out of the ashes of World War II and coming to a dramatic end with the collapse of the Soviet Union. 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Its ideologies influence China, Russia, and the United States; Iraq and Afghanistan have been destroyed by the faith in purely military solutions that emerged from the Cold War. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Stunning in its breadth and revelatory in its perspective, this book expands our understanding of the Cold War both geographically and chronologically, and offers an engaging new history of how today's world was created.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 154167409X\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781541674097\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Westad, Odd Arne\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Basic Books\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Oct 2019)","offer_id":46291792953541,"sku":"9781541674097","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781541674097.jpg?v=1780113092"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.inveni.store\/collections\/history-modern-20th-century-cold-war.oembed","provider":"Inveni","version":"1.0","type":"link"}