Description

The Proceedings of the International Conference on Cold War Military Records and History is an important anthology of papers on Cold War historical activities, presented by military historians and archivists of the Western and Eastern blocs to over 140 representatives from seventeen nations. Sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Historical Office and held in Washington, D.C., on 21-26 March 1994, the conference offered a venue for building a more solid foundation for bilateral exchanges and visits through a greater understanding of one another's military archives and historical programs. Consisting of forty Cold War military history papers carefully edited by William W. Epley, the anthology covers not only the official historical and archival programs in European and American countries but also the declassification of and access to records. Nine papers serve as a case study of the Berlin crisis of 1958-61, one of the most critical confrontations of the Cold War; two focus on the origins of the Cold War; twelve examine the problems and issues confronting historians writing about the Cold War; and the remaining seventeen outline the archival Cold War holdings and access issues. Taken together, the collected papers offer invaluable insights for understanding the tense and difficult period known as the Cold War.