
The World of the Cold War
1945-1991
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Narrated by:
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Rufus Wright
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By:
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Vladislav Zubok
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
A sweeping, original history of the Cold War, from an acclaimed historian of the USSR
Why did the Cold War erupt so soon after the Second World War? How did it escalate so rapidly, spanning five continents over six decades? And what led to the spectacular collapse of the Soviet Union?
In this comprehensive guide to the most widespread conflict in contemporary history, Vladislav Zubok traces the origins of the Cold War in post-war Europe, through the tumultuous decades of confrontation, to the fall of the Berlin Wall and beyond.
With remarkable clarity and unique perspective, Zubok argues that the Cold War, often seen as an existential battle between capitalist democracy and totalitarian communism, has long been misunderstood. He challenges the popular Western narrative that economic superiority and democratic values led the USA to victory. Instead, he looks beyond the familiar images of East-West rivalry, shining a light on the impact of non-Western actors and placing the war in the context of global decolonisation, Soviet weakness and the accidents of history. Here, he interrogates what happens when stability and peace are no longer the default, when treaties are broken and when diplomacy ceases to function.
Drawing on years of research and informed by Zubok’s three decades in the USSR followed by three decades in the West, The World of the Cold War paints a striking portrait of a world on the brink.
© Vladislav Zubok 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
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- By: Pierre Zalloua
- Narrated by: Sean Rohani
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In recent years, genetic testing has become easily available to consumers across the globe, making it relatively simple to find out where your ancestors came from. But what do these test results actually tell us about ourselves? In Ancestors, Pierre Zalloua, a leading authority on population genetics, argues that these test results have led to a dangerous oversimplification of what one’s genetic heritage means. Genetic ancestry has become conflated with anthropological categories such as “origin,” “ethnicity,” and even “race” in spite of the complexities that underlie these concepts.
By: Pierre Zalloua
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The Celts
- A Modern History
- By: Ian Stewart
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 22 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on new research conducted across Europe and in the United States, The Celts reveals when and how we came to call much of Europe "Celtic," why this idea mattered in the past, and why it still matters today, as the tide of nationalism is once again on the rise.
By: Ian Stewart
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China's Quest for Military Supremacy
- By: Phillip C. Saunders, Joel Wuthnow
- Narrated by: Steve Marvel
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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China's Quest for Military Supremacy provides a broad and accessible exploration of Chinese military power, including relations between the Chinese Communist Party and its army, the strategic worldview of Chinese leaders, military strategy and resourcing, conventional and nuclear modernization, military diplomacy and coercion, preparations for war, and the People's Liberation Army's emerging global role.
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Deep Military Analysis
- By Helen C. on 05-19-25
By: Phillip C. Saunders, and others
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Chain of Fire
- Campaigning in Egypt and the Sudan, 1882-98
- By: Peter Hart
- Narrated by: Graham Mack
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1880s, control over northeastern Africa was a political minefield into which Prime Minister Gladstone did not want to step—until his emissary Charles Gordon was besieged in Khartoum, and the city became the focal point for war. It was the height of European colonialism. Injustices were administered, bloody battles fought, and civilians caught in the crossfire. Among the British officers were figures who would later adopt starring roles in the First World War, such as Egyptian Army sapper Captain Herbert Kitchener.
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adequate book with heinous narration
- By TedJameson on 05-23-25
By: Peter Hart
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The Coming Storm
- A Journey into the Heart of the Conspiracy Machine
- By: Gabriel Gatehouse
- Narrated by: Gabriel Gatehouse
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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A compelling mix of reportage and personal experience, The Coming Storm gets under the skin of these conspiracy theories to show us a radical new kind of politics emerging, a movement that has coalesced around a loose alliance of white supremacists, men's rights activists, tech bros, and radically disenchanted leftists. As we approach the 2024 US presidential election, and perhaps the most perilous moment in the history of American democracy, Gatehouse's book tells us some dark truths about our present, and provides clues about our future.
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Down the Rabbit Hole
- By psychosteve on 11-16-24
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Forged in War
- A military history of Russia from its beginnings to today
- By: Mark Galeotti
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The national identity has been forged in the furnace of war. From the medieval kingdom of Rus battling against a Scandinavian princes and Mongol emperors, to its own empire-building conflicts in 19th-century Asia, to the formative wars of the 20th century which saw Russia pitch from Tsarist empire to communist state and defender against Nazism, all these conflicts stained the lands of Russia red with blood. A weak post-Cold War Russia then turned to Putin, who created a new mood for martial triumphalism which led directly to the Ukrainian war.
By: Mark Galeotti
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Armageddon Averted
- The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000
- By: Stephen Kotkin
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Combining historical and geopolitical analysis with an absorbing narrative, Kotkin draws upon extensive research, including memoirs by dozens of insiders and senior figures, to illuminate the factors that led to the demise of Communism and the USSR. The new edition puts the collapse in the context of the global economic and political changes from the 1970s to the present day. Kotkin creates a compelling profile of post-Soviet Russia.
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insightful
- By Anonymous User on 01-28-20
By: Stephen Kotkin
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The Forbidden Garden
- The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice
- By: Simon Parkin
- Narrated by: Elliot Fitzpatrick
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1941, German troops surrounded the Russian city of Leningrad—now St. Petersburg—and began the longest blockade in recorded history, one that would ultimately claim the lives of nearly three-quarters of a million people. At the center of the besieged city stood a converted palace that housed the world’s largest collection of seeds—more than 250,000 samples hand-collected over two decades from all over the globe by world-famous explorer, geneticist, and dissident Nikolai Vavilov, who had recently been disappeared by the Soviet government.
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Lost me hour in.
- By Patti Bradley on 10-17-24
By: Simon Parkin
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536 AD
- The Worst Year to Be Alive in the History of Humankind
- By: Kamal Khalaf
- Narrated by: Zack Zimbler
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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In 536 AD, the sun dimmed, the sky turned a ghostly gray, and global temperatures plummeted. Crops withered, famine spread like wildfire, and entire civilizations were thrown into chaos. Historians and scientists now recognize this year as one of the most catastrophic climate events in human history—a volcanic winter that reshaped the world.
By: Kamal Khalaf
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To Run the World
- The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power
- By: Sergey Radchenko
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 30 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In this new history of the conflict that defined the postwar era, Sergey Radchenko provides a deep dive into the psychology of the Kremlin's decision-making. He reveals how the Soviet struggle with the United States and China reflected its irreconcilable ambitions as a self-proclaimed superpower and the leader of global revolution. This tension drove Soviet policies from Stalin's postwar scramble for territory to Khrushchev's reckless overseas adventurism and nuclear brinksmanship, Brezhnev's jockeying for influence in the third world, and Gorbachev's failed attempts to reinvent Moscow.
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Thoroughly researched; a landmark
- By anikmuan on 05-19-25
By: Sergey Radchenko
Mostly a recitation of standard Cold War history
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