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When the World Seemed New

George H. W. Bush and the End of the Cold War

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When the World Seemed New

Written by: Jeffrey A. Engel
Narrated by: Bob Souer
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About this listen

The end of the Cold War was the greatest shock to international affairs since World War II. In that perilous moment, Saddam Hussein chose to invade Kuwait, China cracked down on its own pro-democracy protesters, and regimes throughout Eastern Europe teetered between democratic change and new authoritarians. Not since FDR in 1945 had a US president faced such opportunities and challenges.

As the presidential historian Jeffrey Engel reveals in this hard-to-pause history, behind closed doors from the Oval Office to the Kremlin, George H. W. Bush rose to the occasion brilliantly. Distrusted by such key allies as Margaret Thatcher and dismissed as too cautious by the press, Bush had the experience and the wisdom to use personal, one-on-one diplomacy with world leaders. Bush knew when it was essential to rally a coalition to push Iraq out of Kuwait. He managed to help unify Germany while strengthening NATO.

Based on unprecedented access to previously classified documents and interviews with all of the principals, When the World Seemed New is a riveting, fly-on-the-wall account of a president with his hand on the tiller, guiding the nation through a pivotal time and setting the stage for the 21st century.

©2017 Jeffrey A. Engel (P)2017 Tantor Americas International Relations Political Science Politics & Activism Politics & Government Presidents & Heads of State United States Russia Middle East Soviet Union Military War Imperialism Socialism Iran Cold War Franklin D Roosevelt Vietnam War China Capitalism Self-Determination Imperial Japan Winston Churchill Liberalism American Foreign Policy Interwar Period
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I saw this book on an advertisement on the Foreign Affairs magazine website and was interested in learning about how Bush Sr. handled the epic events of the late 80's and early 90's. However, this book is much more focused on the events themselves and America's reaction to them more broadly than Bush himself. He's not much more prominent than his other senior administration officials at any given point in the book. Despite that, which may disappoint some, the book is still a great perspective on how the American government under Bush Sr. reacted to Gorbachev, the reform revolutions in Eastern Europe and Tienanmen Square.

The Performance is great until around chapter 5 where I don't know what happened but the reader gets much more monotone and his breathing much more noticeable. It's still serviceable however, and is never too bad that you lose attention.

A Great History of the End of the Cold War

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