The Cold War : Collapse of Communism

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Theories of the origins of the Cold War and its key events are clearly sketched in the opening chapter, followed by an examination of the arms race. Rice explains the development of weapons systems and the agreements to reduce nuclear arsenals as well as the cost of the arms race for both sides. He is on shakier ground in the next three chapters entitled "Communism's Basic Flaw," "Soviet Dissent," and "Glasnost and Perestroika." In this half of the book, he tries to cover too many topics and the result is some oversimplifications and misleading statements. This is especially true in the section on nationalism. In addition, the image of the "Soviet ship of state" is overused and the language describing it is pretentious. On the other hand, the final section, "War Is No Option," is balanced and eloquent. Subtitles in boldface and short highlighted sections on special topics result in an attractive format. The black-and-white photographs are adequate, but a few of the captions are odd or wrong. Starvation was certainly not "the norm for Soviet citizens in the early 1990s" as is stated under the photo of the Gorbachevs. An uneven offering.-Elizabeth Talbot, University of Illinois, Champaign Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.