Need help? See the "How to Search JSTOR" guide.
History Today The Christopher Brennan Library has an online subscription to History Today. Use the Passwords Libguide to access login details. The latest issue (not for loan) and past issues are available in print form in the library.
Overview from BBC History exploring the political motivations and cultural responses during this volatile period.
The Cuban Missile Crisis: to the brink of war by
Provides detailed information on the events that took place during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Includes source notes and timeline.
Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis by
How did John F. Kennedy protect his country from a nuclear threat and avoid the outbreak of a new world war? What choices did he have, what support and advice did he receive, and how did his decisions affect history and his legacy? This book looks at a momentous event from the Cold War, showing how one of the world's most charismatic leaders chose to follow a brave course of action.
Journey to a Revolution by
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was not just an extraordinary and dramatic event--perhaps the most dramatic single event of the Cold War--but, as we can now see fifty years later, a major turning point in history. Here is an eyewitness account, in the tradition of George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. The spontaneous rising of Hungarian people against the Hungarian communist party and the Soviet forces in Hungary in the wake of Stalin's death, while ending unsuccessfully, demonstrated to the world at large the failure of Communism. The Russians were obliged to use force on a vast scale against armed students, factory workers, and intellectuals in the streets of a major European capital to restore the Hungarian communist party to power. For two weeks, students, women, and teenagers fought tanks in the streets of Budapest, in full view of the Western media--and therefore the world--and for a time they actually won, deeply humiliating the men who succeeded Stalin. The Russians eventually managed to extinguish the revolution with brute force and overwhelming numbers, but never again would they attempt to use military force on a large scale to suppress dissent in their Eastern European empire. Told with brilliant detail, suspense, occasional humor, and sustained anger, Journey to a Revolution is at once history and a compelling memoir--the amazing story of four young Oxford undergraduates, including the author, who took off for Budapest in a beat-up old Volkswagen convertible in October 1956 to bring badly needed medicine to Budapest hospitals and to participate, at street level, in one of the great battles of postwar history. Michael Korda paints a vivid and richly detailed picture of the events and the people; explores such major issues as the extent to which the British and American intelligence services were involved in the uprising, making the Hungarians feel they could expect military support from the West; and describes, day by day, the course of the revolution, from its heroic beginnings to the sad martyrdom of its end. Journey to a Revolution delivers "a harrowing and horrifying tale told in spare and poignant prose--sometimes bitter, sometimes ironic, always powerful."* * Kirkus Reviews (starred)
Hungarian Uprising by
When the world held its breath ... It is more than 25 years since the end of the Cold War. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 - long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe - with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Syria, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was Hungary ... Soviet troops had occupied Hungary in 1945 as they pushed towards Germany and by 1949 the country was ruled by a communist government that towed the Soviet line. Resentment at the system eventually boiled over at the end of October 1956\. Protests erupted on the streets of Budapest and, as the violence spread, the government fell and was replaced by a new, more moderate regime. However, the intention of the new government to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and declare neutrality in the Cold War proved just too much for Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Soviet forces had intervened at the beginning of events to help the former regime keep order but were withdrawn at the end of October, only to return in November and quell the uprising with blunt force. Thousands were arrested, many of whom were imprisoned and more than 300 executed. An estimated 200,000 fled Hungary as refugees. Despite advocating a policy of rolling back Soviet influence, the US and other western powers were helpless to stop the suppression of the uprising, which marked a realization that the Cold War in Europe had reached a stalemate.
The Wall Came Tumbling Down by
A concise history with photographs of the events that led to the opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.
Cuban Revolution Reader by
From the euphoria of the early years of the revolution to its near collapse in the 1990s, Julio Garcia Luis has selected a broad range of material to provide a sweeping vision of post-Batistan Cuba. Photographs, essays and documentary evidence examine the challenges, defeats and impact on the world of the greatest popular revolution in 20th century history. Includes contributions from Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raul Castro and John F. Kennedy.
Life an Exploded Diagram by
Norfolk, 1962. It's a hot summer during the Cold War. Clem, a working-class boy from a council estate and Frankie, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, are conducting a furtive and high-risk relationship.
Meanwhile, the world's superpowers are moving towards nuclear confrontation. With the Cuban Missile Crisis looming , it seems that time is running out for Frankie and Clem. There are things they need to do before the world explodes.
The Girl Behind the Wall by
A city divided. When the Berlin Wall goes up, Karin is on the wrong side of the city. Overnight, she's trapped under Soviet rule in unforgiving East Berlin and separated from her twin sister, Jutta. Two sisters torn apart. Karin and Jutta lead parallel lives for years, cut off by the Wall. But Karin finds one reason to keep going: Otto, the man who gives her hope, even amidst the brutal East German regime. One impossible choice... When Jutta finds a hidden way through the wall, the twins are reunited. But the Stasi have eyes everywhere, and soon Karin is faced with a terrible decision: to flee to the West and be with her sister, or sacrifice it all to follow her heart?.
The Apollo Murders by 
Key Terms of the Cold War
Between 1946 and 1991 the United States, the Soviet Union, and their allies were locked in a long, tense conflict known as the Cold War. Though the parties were technically at peace, the period was characterised by an aggressive arms race, proxy wars, and ideological bids for world dominance.
Read through the Key Terms of The Cold War in this article by Jennifer Rosenberg and published on ThoughtCo (2023).
Moonrise Podcast published by the Washington Post on 27 August 2019.
A top-secret memo in the Eisenhower administration. A plan to make space the new military high ground. And a Soviet beep heard from above. In the sixth chapter of “Moonrise,” humans launch the very first object into orbit. Listen to the episode of the Moonrise podcast linked above.