This exceedingly dense book recounts the Cold War policies of the United States from Truman through Reagan. This is one of the better history book I have read as it refuses to repeat the same themes at every opportunity. Rather, Gaddis slowly recounts the major players in American and Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War allowing the reader to glean insights into the policy making process and the personalities that render major decisions.

Unlike other writers about the cold war, Gaddis goes through great lengths to remain balanced in his appraisal of policies. Rather than simply stating whether an idea was good or bad, he states the outcomes without qualification--something I value highly in historical works. In the end, this is an extremely valuable book for anyone interested in what happen during the Cold War--as far as we know with many documents classified to this day--or desiring insights into the fundamentals of high-level foreign policy making. ( )