The War of Nerves: Inside the Cold War Mind by Sixsmith, Martin

A major new history of the Cold War that explores the conflict through the minds of the people who lived through it.

More than any other conflict, the Cold War was fought on the battlefield of the human mind. And, nearly thirty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, its legacy still endures--not only in our politics, but in our own thoughts and fears.

Drawing on a vast array of untapped archives and unseen sources, Martin Sixsmith vividly recreates the tensions and paranoia of the Cold War, framing it for the first time from a psychological perspective. Revisiting towering, unique personalities like Khrushchev, Kennedy, and Nixon, as well as the lives of the unknown millions who were caught up in the conflict, this is a gripping narrative of the paranoia of the Cold War--and in today's uncertain times, this story is more resonant than ever.

Author: Martin Sixsmith
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Published: 07/05/2022
Pages: 592
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.65lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 2.00d
ISBN: 9781639361816

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2022
Booklist 05/15/2022 pg. 8
Library Journal 06/01/2022 pg. 159
Publishers Weekly 06/20/2022

About the Author
Martin Sixsmith studied Russian at Oxford, Harvard, the Sorbonne, and in St Petersburg. He witnessed the end of the Cold War first-hand, reporting for the BBC from Moscow during the presidencies of Gorbachev and Yeltsin. He is the author of two novels and several works of non-fiction, including Philomena (a New York Times bestseller) and Russia: A 1,000 Year Chronicle of the Wild East. Martin lives in London.