The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis

The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was really excited to read this because I love Gaddis and I am excited about classified documents that become available over time. I was also excited about this book being short so I could get a bird's-eye view of the issues that are in some ways playing out again with various states. But I didn’t find enough riveting material or amazing themes in this to justify how obnoxiously non-chronological this account was. Gaddis constantly jumped back and forth through time in a way that I found dizzying.

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Surprise, Security, and the American Experience by John Lewis Gaddis

Surprise, Security, and the American Experience by John Lewis Gaddis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Gaddis explains the national security philosophies of either isolation or engagement. He uses as the main examples and basis for his arguments the time periods around the British burning of the Capitol in 1814, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, post-WWII security concerns that led to the Cold War, and terrorist 9/11. The good thing is that the book is very short. The downside is that it's not very developed, interesting, or compelling. Seems like 118 pages is at least long enough to pack a punch... but no.

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