Seminar Studies in History Series

The Vietnam War examines this conflict from its origins up until North Vietnam¿s victory in 1975. Historian Mitchell K. Hall¿s lucid account is an ideal introduction to the key debates surrounding a war that remains controversial and disputed in American scholarship and collective memory.¿ The new edition has been fully updated and expanded to include additional material on the preceding French Indochina War, the American antiwar movement, North Vietnamese perspectives and motivations, and the postwar scholarly debate. The text is supported by a documents section and a wide range of study tools, including a timeline of events, glossaries of key figures and terms, and a rich "further reading" section accompanied by a new bibliographical essay. Concise yet comprehensive, The Vietnam War remains the most accessible and stimulating introduction to this crucial 20th-century conflict.

This study explores the fundamental questions facing students: who was responsible for the Cold War? Was it inevitable or could the whole episode have been avoided? Was Stalin genuinely interested in a postwar agreement? Was a great opportunity lost by the world powers, one which could have brought immense benefits to both sides as well as to the rest of the world...? Since publication of the First Edition in 1983 the world has changed out of all recognition -- the Cold War has ended, communism has collapsed and 1991 saw the final demise of the Soviet Union. It is in the light of these recent events, and the latest historiography, that Martin McCauley has revised, and greatly expanded, his original text.

Origins of the First World War summarizes and analyses the policies, issues and crises that brought Europe to war in 1914. Martel explains the position of each of the great powers, and their place in the system of alliances that dominated international politics. He examines the strategic and political problems that confronted each power, and the way in which society and economics influenced the decision-making process. In a clear and accessible manner, the book demonstrates: how and why the alliance system was created how it led to a network of complicated strategic commitments how an escalating series of international crises from the turn of the century fuelled preparations for war why the peculiarities of the Balkans are essential in understanding the outbreak of war in 1914 Incorporating the latest scholarship on the subject, this revised third edition provides a Guide to Further Reading, Who's Who and Glossary. The comprehensive selection of Documents include key treaties, crises and representations of popular militarism and nationalism. The book provides students with the clearest, most concise, accessible and up-to-date account of the Origins of the First World War available.