What I find most enjoyable, so far, especially in light of
the current efforts to rescue stalin, is the general thesis
that contrary to the 'revisionists' - the Cold War was not
'won' - but actually was 'maintained' long after it's usefulness,
and hence that it really was a loss.
In their introductory commentary, they point out that when they
went to interview Gorbachev, Gorbachev found out that there was
no extent documentation about the soviet involvement in the
cuban crisis, and proceded to reqeust a summary write up. To his
dismay, he would then call upon the politburo and make it clear
that he was concerned that things had been a matter of two children
arguing over who had the bigger stick.
I propose the book to this group on the grounds that since the book
covers two of the key 'politico-military crisis' that bracket the
'sixties` - the cuban missile crisis and the 1973 middle eastern crisis -
that their new work will shed some light into the actual machinations
of both governments and the effectiveness of the cold war. And from this
we can then look back, not in anger, not in shame, but in reflection as
to the actions we collecitvely and seperately took to maintain or end
the cold war.
ciao
drieux