Now that the Cold War is over, this book is especially timely: it analyzes and summarizes the events that ushered in an epoch of history nearly fifty years ago, and provides an analysis of the forces that were suppressed or strengthened during the Cold War, and some of which are now unleashed again. This book discusses the different interpretations of the Cold War. A selection of the most important essays on the origins of the Cold War by well-known politicians and scholars, including Averell Harriman, John Gaddis, Thomas McCormick, Radomir Luza, Geir Lundestad, Alan S. Milward, Antony Carew, Michael Hogan, Lutz Niethammer, Marc Trachtenberg and Mark Kramer provide the critical spectrum of the debate on the acceleration of the Cold War. The roles of the giants of history, such as Churchill, Stalin, and Truman, as well as those of local leaders, are illuminated in these essays. Special emphasis is placed on the political economy of the Cold War, the Marshall Plan, and welfare capitalism.