For the Soul of Mankind

The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War

Melvyn P. Leffler

• Publisher: Hill and Wang
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9780809097173
• eBook ISBN: 9781429964098
• Subtopic: North American History

"A masterful account of the Cold War by a distinguished historian in full stride." —G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs
To the amazement of the public, pundits, and even the policymakers themselves, the ideological and political battles that endangered the world for half a century came to an end in 1990. How did that happen? What 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 their global struggle "for the soul of mankind," and asks why they failed: Stalin and Truman devising new policies after 1945; Malenkov and Eisenhower exploring the chance for peace after Stalin's death in 1953; Kennedy, Khrushchev, and LBJ trying to reduce tensions after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962; and Brezhnev and Carter aiming to sustain détente after the Helsinki Conference of 1975. Leffler then illuminates how Reagan, Bush, and, above all, Gorbachev managed to extricate themselves form the policies and mind-sets that had imprisoned their predecessors, making it possible to reconfigure Soviet-American relations after decades of confrontation.
Praise for For the Soul of Mankind
"[A] sweeping work . . . Leffler is one of America's most distinguished cold war historians, and this enlightening, readable study is the product of years of research and reflection." —Jonathan Rosenberg, The Christian Science Monitor
"Leffler has produced possibly the most readable and insightful study of the Cold War yet." — Publishers Weekly, (starred review)
"Professor Leffler has the benefit of almost two decades of hindsight as well as access to recently declassified American and Soviet documents. The result is a series of fresh and often provocative perspectives on the struggle." — Booklist

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Maps
• INTRODUCTION
• I: THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR, 1945–48 STALIN AND TRUMAN
• II: THE CHANCE FOR PEACE, 1953–54 MALENKOV AND EISENHOWER
• III: RETREAT FROM ARMAGEDDON, 1962–65 KHRUSHCHEV, KENNEDY, AND JOHNSON
• IV: THE EROSION OF DÉTENTE, 1975–80 BREZHNEV AND CARTER
• V: THE END OF THE COLD WAR, 1985–90 GORBACHEV, REAGAN, AND BUSH
• CONCLUSION
• Bibliography
• Also by Melvyn P. Leffler
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index
• Copyright