A comprehensive illustrated survey of the events which combined to form the 'Cold War' - an episode which still dominates the world in which we live today. For over four decades the world lived in the shadow of instant nuclear annihilation. The world map was divided into East and West, and war-scarred Europe was partitioned by the Iron Curtain. Each camp was presided over by the 'Superpowers' that emerged from the Second World War - the Soviet Union and the United States - superpowers divided by ideology but united by an ambition for world domination. Structured around a detailed timeline of critical events and brought to life by hundreds of unique contemporary photographs and images drawn from the world-famous Mirrorpix archive, this book examines the origins, development and eventual demise of the Cold War, and sets its darkest moment - the 40-year nuclear stalemate between East and West - in a broader historical and cultural landscape. As a record of the elaborate game of move and counter-move that was played out on a global chessboard, this book provides a rich and fascinating reference resource. As an introduction to understanding the complex shape of the world we live in today it is invaluable.