To the amazement of the public, pundits, and even the policy-makers themselves, the ideological and political conflict that endangered the world for half a century came to an end in 1990. How did that happen? What had caused the cold war in the first place, and why did it last as long as it did? To answer these questions, Melvyn P. Leffler homes in on four crucial episodes when American and Soviet Leaders considered modulating, avoiding, or ending hostilities and asks why they failed. He then illuminates how Reagan, Bush, and, above all, Gorbachev finally extricated themselves from the policies and mind-sets that had imprisoned their predecessors, and were able to reconfigure Soviet-American relations after decades of confrontation.

弗吉尼亞大學曆史係Edward Stettinius教授，著有《共産主義的幽靈：美國與冷戰的起源，1917—1953》以及榮獲班剋羅夫特奬的《實力優勢：國傢安全、杜魯門政府和冷戰》。