The Lost Peace: Leadership in a Time of Horror and Hope, 1945-1953 - Hardcover

Dallek, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061628662 ISBN 13: 9780061628665

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2010

Synopsis

Examines what drove the leaders of the most powerful nations around the globe--including the U.S., Britain and the U.S.S.R.--to rely on traditional power politics after World War II, despite the violence their nations had just endured, which profoundly influenced relations with China, Korea and in the Middle East for decades to come. By a #1 best-selling Pulitzer Prize finalist. 75,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

“An excellent book.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“A perceptive work. . . . Veteran historian Dallek delivers a shrewd analysis of why world leaders failed to deliver a better world.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Bound to provoke debate, Dallek’s tome should engage the readership for world politics.” (Booklist)

“Robert Dallek brings to this majestic work a profound understanding of history, a deep engagement in foreign policy, and a lifetime of studying leadership. This seminal work deserves widespread attention.” (Doris Kearns Goodwin)

From the Back Cover:

In a striking reinterpretation of the postwar years, Robert Dallek examines what drove the leaders of the most powerful and populous nations around the globe—Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Mao, de Gaulle, and Truman—to rely on traditional power politics despite the catastrophic violence their nations had endured. The decisions of these men, for better and often for worse, had profound consequences for decades to come, influencing relations and conflicts with China, Korea, in the Middle East, and around the globe.

The Lost Peace is a penetrating look at the misjudgments that caused enormous strife and suffering during this critical period, from the closing months of World War II through the early years of the Cold War. From Hitler's killing program to Stalin's paranoia to Truman's decision to build hydrogen bombs, the men who led the world at this time executed astonishingly unwise actions that propelled the nuclear arms race and extended the Cold War. Dallek has written a cautionary tale that considers what might have been done differently to avoid the difficulties that strong and weak nations around the globe encountered in the mid-twentieth century.

Provocative, illuminating, and based on a lifetime of research, The Lost Peace also offers extraordinary lessons for today's leaders who may learn from the mistakes that were made between 1945 and 1953 and help them achieve an era of greater international cooperation.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0061628662
• ISBN 13: 9780061628665
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 432