These essays bring a welcome change in our historical perceptions of the cold war. Not obsessed with questions of guilt and responsibility, they examine how the cold-war antagonism shaped, or distorted, the political and social developments in Europe after World War II. They focus on Western Europe, and more on American than on Soviet policy, reflecting the accessibility of source material. The editor's own essay on the historiographical debate on the cold war, which introduces the volume, is well worth reading.