Book Review: Geraint Hughes, Harold Wilson’s Cold War: The Labour Government and East—West Politics, 1964— 1970, Royal Historical Society Studies in History; Boydell Press: Woodbridge and Rochester NY, 2009; xviii + 202 pp.; 9780861932986, £50.00 (hbk)

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 326-327
Author(s):  
Merrilyn Thomas

This book uses trust—with its emotional and predictive aspects—to explore international relations in the second half of the Cold War, beginning with the late 1960s. The détente of the 1970s led to the development of some limited trust between the United States and the Soviet Union, which lessened international tensions and enabled advances in areas such as arms control. However, it also created uncertainty in other areas, especially on the part of smaller states that depended on their alliance leaders for protection. The chapters in this volume look at how the “emotional” side of the conflict affected the dynamics of various Cold War relations: between the superpowers, within the two ideological blocs, and inside individual countries on the margins of the East–West confrontation.


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