Chamberlin covers a roughly 50 year time period and several regions of the world to point out the violence of the Cold War. “Between the end of World War II and 1990 more than 20 million people died in violent conflicts. Broken down that means that an average of more than 1,200 people died in wars of one type or another everyday for 45 years. Most of them were civilians.”
Chamberlin covers the history of conflicts in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and states:
“This book argues that this violence was not simply an accidental consequence of local wars or super power meddling rather massacres such as My Lai were integral components of the Cold War world.”
The scope of this book is broad so only a superficial glance at each of the areas covered is given. However the book provides a valuable overview about the conflicts that occurred during the Cold War and the role the United States and the Communist Countries played. It pays little attention to uprisings like 1956 in Hungary and 1968 in Czechoslovakia against communist rule. It also is lacking in information on Cuba and South America.
The book will leave the reader with a greater understanding of the wars in Asia and the Middle East between 1945 and 1990.
Overall I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.
“What about Roxane?” Alexander asked.
“Your prisoner bride?”
“Such disrespect is worthy of death!”
“There is no possible way that you could love her or that she could truly love you.”
“What gives you the insight to speak so assertively about matters you know nothing about?”
“Daughter of Oxyarthes, the man who surrendered the Iron Gates to you, makes for a very political marriage.”
“Continue,” said Alexander.
“At a feast celebrating your latest victory a number of young women were brought in for entertainment. You spotted one of them whose beauty far surpassed the others and you decided on the spot to marry her once you learned she was the daughter of Oxyarthes. You needed to cement a strong relationship with the local leaders. What better way to do this than through marriage? You didn’t share a common language and never even spoke to each other beforehand. She never was given a choice. So she is your prisoner bride.”
“You have a vague outline of the past. I suppose it is remarkable that you have as much ...