Stretching from the end of World War II to 1989, the Cold War between the Western powers and the Communist bloc shaped national alliances around the world. This four-volume set examines the historic causes of the tension: the mutual suspicions that fuelled the conflict for more than 40 years, the ideological clash between communism and democracy, the policies that marked the long-standoff - the Marshall Plan, Truman's Point Four programme, the nuclear arms race, economic aid, the Berlin Wall and more. Also covered are the times when the Cold War burst into armed conflict in such areas as Korea, Cuba and Southeast Asia. Biographies are presented on the lives and actions of: Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Nikita Khrushchev, Ronald Regan, Pope John Paul II and others, both famous and less well-known. Primary sources are also included.