In this book, Thomas G. Paterson examines the history of the Cold War, beginning with its origins in the rubble-strewn countries after World War II and ending with the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. He looks at features of the international system that guaranteed conflict: the great power quest for order by building spheres of influence; the power, ideology and strategic economic needs of the United States and the Soviet Union that compelled activist, global foreign policies; and the personalities of key figures, ranging from Truman to Bush, Stalin to Gorbachev. After demonstrating that the Cold War derived from many sources, the author analyzes the end of the Cold War and concludes that detente ultimately stemmed from the decline of the two superpowers.