This book offers a major new interpretation of the Cold War and how its aftermath shaped the course of history. The history of the Cold War is more than the history of a confrontation. There is also a need to look into why the Cold War did not become more heated, and how it was finally overcome. Wilfried Loth's book examines both these issues. It is a story about the containment of the Cold War, of détente, of the development of cooperative security, and of the changes in the Soviet bloc. The book offers new information taken from Eastern and Western archives, and for the first time draws a precise and detailed overall picture of how the Cold War was overcome.