The Marshall Plan
Dawn of the Cold War
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Narrated by:
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Arthur Morey
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By:
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Benn Steil
About this listen
In the wake of World War II, with Britain's empire collapsing and Stalin's on the rise, US officials under new secretary of state George C. Marshall set out to reconstruct western Europe as a bulwark against communist authoritarianism. Their massive, costly, and ambitious undertaking would confront Europeans and Americans alike with a vision at odds with their history and self-conceptions. In the process, they would drive the creation of NATO, the European Union, and a Western identity that continues to shape world events.
Focusing on the critical years 1947 to 1949, Benn Steil's thrilling account brings to life the seminal episodes marking the collapse of postwar US-Soviet relations - the Prague coup, the Berlin blockade, and the division of Germany. In each case, we understand like never before Stalin's determination to crush the Marshall Plan and undermine American power in Europe.
Given current echoes of the Cold War, as Putin's Russia rattles the world order, the tenuous balance of power and uncertain order of the late 1940s is as relevant as ever. The Marshall Plan provides critical context into understanding today's international landscape. Bringing to bear fascinating new material from American, Russian, German, and other European archives, Steil's account will forever change how we see the Marshall Plan and the birth of the Cold War. A polished and masterly work of historical narrative, this is an instant classic of Cold War literature.
©2018 Benn Steil (P)2018 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
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Even Handed Report
- By Jean on 11-21-15
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How Wars End
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In 1991, the United States Army trounced the Iraqi army in battle only to stumble blindly into postwar turmoil. Then in 2003 the United States did it again. How could this happen? How could the strongest power in modern history fight two wars against the same opponent in just over a decade, win lightning victories both times, and yet still be woefully unprepared for the aftermath? Because Americans always forget the political aspects of war.
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Excellent book
- By Luis on 11-04-10
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Making the Future
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Making the Future presents more than 50 concise and persuasively argued commentaries on U.S. politics and policies, written between 2007 and 2011. Taken together, Chomsky's essays present a powerful counter-narrative to official accounts of the major political events of the past four years: the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; the U.S. presidential race; the ascendancy of China; Latin America's leftward turn; the threat of nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea; Israel's invasion of Gaza and more.
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Fifty-Two Reasons to Listen to Chomsky
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The Cold War
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In The Cold War, Odd Arne Westad offers a new perspective on a century when a superpower rivalry and an ideological war transformed every corner of our globe. We traditionally think of the Cold War as a post-World War II diplomatic and military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. But in this major new work, Westad argues that the conflict must be understood as a global ideological confrontation with roots in the industrial revolution and with continuing implications for the world today.
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A lenghy treatise on the Cold War
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The Cold War
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Drawing on new and often startling information from newly opened Soviet, Eastern European, and Chinese archives, this thrilling account explores the strategic dynamics that drove the Cold War, provides illuminating portraits of its major personalities, and offers much fresh insight into its most crucial events. Riveting, revelatory, and wise, it tells a story whose lessons it is vitally necessary to understand as America once more faces an implacable ideological enemy.
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WOW
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Ike's Gamble
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In 1956 President Nasser of Egypt moved to take possession of the Suez Canal, thereby bringing the Middle East to the brink of war. The British and the French, who operated the canal, joined with Israel in a plan to retake it by force. Despite the special relationship between England and America, Dwight Eisenhower intervened to stop the invasion.
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Tightly Argued
- By Jean on 01-10-17
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Fear Itself
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Redefining our traditional understanding of the New Deal, Fear Itself finally examines this pivotal American era through a sweeping international lens that juxtaposes a struggling democracy with enticing ideologies like Fascism and Communism. Ira Katznelson, "a towering figure in the study of American and European history" (Cornel West), boldly asserts that, during the 1930s and 1940s, American democracy was rescued yet distorted by a unified band of southern lawmakers who safeguarded racial segregation as they built a new national state to manage capitalism and assert global power.
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History in Context of Political Science Analysis
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Potsdam
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After Germany's defeat in World War II, Europe lay in tatters. Millions of refugees were dispersed across the continent. Food and fuel were scarce. Britain was bankrupt while Germany had been reduced to rubble. In July 1945, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin gathered in a quiet suburb of Berlin to negotiate a lasting peace - a peace that would finally put an end to the conflagration that had started in 1914, a peace under which Europe could be rebuilt.
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Richly told and entertaining.
- By John Kaiser on 06-20-15
By: Michael Neiberg
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What listeners say about The Marshall Plan
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Rex Michael Dillon
- 01-26-19
Definitive History
This book offers the definitive history of the most enduringly successful piece of American Foreign Policy. The early portion demonstrates how what is today considered a forgone conclusion as an arduous political coup in Congress by the Truman Administration. The final chapter also offers a terrific summary of its impact on the present.
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2 people found this helpful
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- M. T. in S.C.
- 04-15-18
Excellent history
A fine and important work... New York Times' review is an excellent summary of the book. Recommended.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Ralph D.
- 04-19-20
Marshall Plan made America most powerful nation
Written with incredible insight. The stories take you behind the scenes into the conversations and motives of the players, during a period which shaped the western world as anyone alive knows it. The personalities are both larger than life and very human. The narration is read with understanding and intelligence. Undoubtedly, (and perhaps unwittingly,) the Marshall Plan made America most powerful nation in the world.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Helen J. Porter
- 04-11-18
History came alive
If you could sum up The Marshall Plan in three words, what would they be?
We knew little
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
How history defines the past and explains the present geo-political aspect of our relationship to Russia and Europe
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
The detailsof the complexity and fragility of the Berlin airlift
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3 people found this helpful
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- Savage Doc
- 09-22-23
Informative and very dry
I wanted to keep reading, but it became just a morass of complications and personalities. Eventually I felt compelled to move on to something more fun.
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- Craig VanGrasstek
- 06-29-18
A 20th century history speaks to the 21st century
Benn Steil's admirably detailed and textured examination of this critical Cold War initiative not only brings out the challenges faced by Harry Truman, George Marshall, and their subordinates, as well as their allies and adversaries, but clearly connects the choices that they made to today's controversies. Arthur Morey delivers the text with just the right pace and intonation.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Kim Hamacher
- 05-02-18
Interesting but slow at times
The Marshall Plan has intrigued me since I began studying the Cold War. This book covers a lot more than just the Marshall Plan, which has good and bed results. Adding the peripheral actions and decisions makes the length a bit daunting, which slowed me down as they were not my key interest. But on the other hand they add to one's overall understanding of the situation. Perhaps Dawn of the Cold War should have been the title and The Marshall Plan the subtitle? Foreign policy, especially with regard to economic implications: sanctions, tariffs, money devaluation, ad nauseam, is a difficult concept for me and there's a fair amount of it in here, again, good and bad. The overall intent of the book seemed to be more about NATO and the EU, and how both have been used/misused strategically against Russia. I learned a lot and could easily reread for better understanding, so the money's not wasted. It's just not always a gripping read.
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Overall
- Dan Davis
- 04-07-18
Great Historic Learning
After reading Truman and Churchill, then listening to Stalin's, biographies this was a great source of information. I feel like I learned more from this than some of my history classes of long ago.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Dean
- 11-27-18
Thorough but conclusions drawn are muddled
Mr. Morey’s account is thorough and engaging. Some of his conclusions however seem a bit confused. At times he seems to set forth that Western Europe could have been stabilized and communist expansion have been prevented only with the Marshal plan, and without NATO, but then goes on to discuss how the Soviet Union was actively plotting the overthrow of western governments. Further he seems to argue that NATO’s expansion may be a cause of conflict with Russia, but then only sights examples of conflict which occur outside of the expanded NATO alliance, which actually supports that NATO expansion should have been more thorough and quicker. He hints that perhaps Russia would not interfere with its neighbors if only NATO would stay away, which goes against everything else in the book which supports that Russia will always attempt to influence and subjugate its neighbors unless a strong and unified force is in place to oppose it.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Han
- 12-23-23
Detailed but not tedious
Liked the level of detail and storytelling. Though sometimes tedious and monotonous, overall the narration was good.
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