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The Atlantic and Its Enemies
The Atlantic and Its Enemies
Oct 3, 2024 9:26 AM

Author:Norman Stone

The Atlantic and Its Enemies

Those who survived the Second World War stared out onto a devastated, morally ruined world. Much of Europe and Asia had been so ravaged that it was unclear whether any form of normal life could ever be established again - coups, collapsing empires and civil wars, some on a vast scale, continued to reshape country after country long after the fighting was meant to have ended.

Everywhere the 'Atlantic' world (the USA, Britain and a handful of allies) was on the defensive and its enemies on the move. For every Atlantic success there seemed to be a dozen Communist or 'Third World' successes, as the USSR and its proxies crushed dissent and humiliated the United States on both military and cultural grounds. For all the astonishing productivity of the American, Japanese and mainland western European economies (setting aside the fiasco of Britain's implosion), most of the world was either under Communist rule or lost in a violent stagnancy that seemed doomed to permanence. Even in the late 1970s, with the collapse of Iran, the oil shock and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the initiative seemed to lie with the Communist forces. Then, suddenly, the Atlantic won - economically, ideologically, militarily - with astonishing speed and completeness.

The Atlantic and Its Enemies is a surprising, highly entertaining and pugnacious history of this tumultuous period.

Reviews

This book is a brilliant chronicling of the Atlantic's counter-attack and its dsorry prelude - a forthright, brave history, full of wit and humanity, and readable to a degree that will delight all but the green-eyed

—— Allan Mallinson , The Times

An intellectual autobigoraphy concealed within a major history book ... a powerful alternative to the Left 'liberal' reading of Cold War history, without sounding in the least triumphalist

—— Michael Burleigh , The Spectator

Stone's eye for the telling detail gives his account of the cold war years an edge of authenticity lacking from more conventional histories ... the one book that anyone who wants to understand the cold war as it developed must read

—— John Gray , New Statesman

He paints on a broad canvas, showing how the Cold War unfolded ... [he] also delves into less obvious topics for a Cold War book ... Mr. Stone doesn't stop to address the contemporary crisis, but The Atlantic and Its Enemies is an inspiring reminder that the West has risen to meet such challenges before, helped at crucial moments by bold leaders

—— William Anthony Hay , Wall Street Journal

In this compelling - and thrilling - new study by Michael Dobbs, there is much new material that forces us to revise our assumptions about the crisis... This is the first book about the crisis to tell the story of the tactical cruise missiles and the first to contain interviews with Soviet veterans. Dobbs adopts a cinematic style, cross-cutting between locations and time zones, and perfectly judges the acceleration of pace in the second half of the book which concentrates on Black Sunday. Unlike previous writers, Dobbs gives due prominence to the subplots, any one of which might have sparked mass destruction

—— Christopher Silvester , Daily Express

Dobbs writes it up like a thriller

—— Billy Heller , New York Post

A relentless and determined researcher, Dobbs visited half a dozen countries including Russia and Cuba, over a two year period in his search for the full truth about the October missile crisis... This author seeks to humanise the story and bring it down to the level of the individual pilot or soldier

—— Irish Times

Dobbs is a master at telling stories as they unfold and from a variety of perspectives... In a densely packed, fast-paced narrative, Dobbs presents the crisis from its early stages through the decision to blockade Cuba and Kennedy's ordering of DEFCON 2, the last step before an attack, to the final resolution

—— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Extraordinary . . . As gripping as any fiction. Dobbs is an impeccable researcher and reporter

—— The Christian Science Monitor

A book with sobering new information about the world's only superpower nuclear confrontation - as well as contemporary relevance . . . Filled with insights that will change the views of experts and help inform a new generation

—— Richard Holbrooke , The New York Times Book Review

Riveting and highly informative, One Minute to Midnight portrays the intense human drama of mankind on the brink of an unthinkable war

—— The Philadelphia Inquirer

Gripping . . . A significant contribution to our understanding of that perilous autumn

—— Bloomberg News

An important work of scholarship . . . Dobbs [is] an experienced investigative journalist, a talented writer and an intelligent historical analyst

—— Martin Sherman, co-author of American Prometheus

Filled with memorable characters in extraordinary circumstances and exotic settings . . . evokes novelists like Alan Furst, John le Carré or Graham Greene

—— Washington Post Book World

Demonstrates how that old saying - "this time is different" - is both so true and so wrong!

—— Lord Stephen Green , former CEO and Chairman of HSBC and UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment, 2011-2013

Crashes are an integral part of the history of capitalism. The last century has seen plenty of them. All crashes begin with debt-fuelled euphoria and end in disappointment. Yet how bad that disappointment turns out to be also depends on where in the economy the crash falls and how determined and credible are the responses. In this lively and blessedly brief book, Linda Yueh does a lovely job of explaining the history and drawing the necessary lessons

—— Martin Wolf , Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times

This excellent overview identifies the ingredients that are specific to each crisis and common to all. She provides a lucid assessment of the efficacy of policy responses, high-lighting credibility as a necessary condition for successful resolution

—— Lord Nick McPherson, , former Permanent Secretary of the UK Treasury, 2005-2016, and Chairman of C. Hoare & Co.

"Why did nobody notice?" Was the question the Queen asked about the 2008 financial crisis. It was a good question. All financial crises and crashes have their own characteristics but they also often involve certain common features:- Irrational exuberance, Speculative frenzy, Greed and over confidence usually supported by high levels of gearing.

Linda Yueh's new book will be a timely reminder to governments and regulators of the warning signs of future crises

—— Lord Norman Lamont , former Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1990-1993

Timely, entertaining and full of useful insights

—— Gideon Rachman , Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times

Renowned economist Dr Linda Yueh looks at past financial crashes - from the Wall Street Crash to the dot com boom and bust and the Covid pandemic - to explore what we can learn from them in this entertainingly written book.

—— i, Best New Books in May

Entertaining, well-written . . . [Yueh] has come up with a three-step framework to help spot when financial problems are brewing and identifies where the next may occur.

—— Ben Wright , Telegraph

A gifted writer (een begenadigd schrijver)

—— De Telegraaf

The book which impressed me most, and which I most enjoyed, this year is Andrew Roberts's George III. It is based on such astonishingly wide-ranging and original research that I felt I was reading about the period for the first time. Unknown facts and wonderful anecdotes had me turning the pages with a curiosity I seldom feel when reading about supposedly familiar events. Andrew Roberts is remarkably even-handed, and there is no special pleading on behalf of this genuinely misunderstood and wilfully misrepresented monarch who did his best to be a good constitutional ruler during a very choppy period in British history.

—— Adam Zamoyski , Aspects of History Books of the Year

meticulously researched ... an eye-opening portrait of the man and his times

—— Publishers Weekly

A deep, expansive study not only of George III but also of the political and social complexities of England and the United States during his reign.

—— Kathleen McCallister , Library Journal

a deeply textured portrait of George III [and] a capacious, prodigiously researched biography from a top-shelf historian.

—— Kirkus

an outstanding and surprisingly moving portrait of a misunderstood king, distinguished by refreshing revisionism but also illuminated by deep humanity.

—— Simon Sebag Montefiore , Spectator World Books of the Year

Roberts is in a rich vein of form at present; after bestselling books on Napoleon and Churchill, yet another masterpiece has tumbled from his pen.

—— Dan Jones , The Good Web Guide

Roberts has been justly acclaimed as one of his generation's leading historians ... His new biography seeks to challenge popular myths about the monarch. ... Roberts, employing the same flair for original research and ability to convey historical context and vivid prose that he used in previous books ... thoroughly debunks all the assumptions most people have about the king.

—— Jonathan Tobin , Washington Examiner

exhaustively researched and written in accessible, non-jargony prose. Meticulous and forensic, it sometimes reads like a defense counsel's case for his client ... Roberts's defense of George III, though, is the fullest, the clearest, and likely to be the most definitive.

—— Robert G. Ingram , National Review

Roberts has painted a masterful portrait of a patriotic, diligent and cultivated monarch. ... This new biography is a treasure-house of detail. ... George III is an engaging, humane and at times beautiful testament to the importance of giving our ancestors a fair hearing.

—— Harrison Pitt , European Conservative
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