The Cold War was a part of our lives for decades before it came to an abrupt end in 1991. It has been described and assessed in a seemingly endless array of volumes, including John Lewis Gaddis's The Cold War: A New History and editors Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad's three-volume The Cambridge History of the Cold War. Those readers seeking a well-written single-volume treatment now can turn to this finely wrought book. Fink (history, emerita, Ohio State Univ.; Defending the Rights of Others) turns her considerable talents to the task of producing a global history of the Cold War that extends back to 1917 when a kind of incipient cold war began between the United States and Russia during the rise of the Soviets and Lenin. Fink also covers the well-known post-World War II Cold War in Europe, but, as per her subtitle, she also explores the war's impact on the Middle East, Asia, and elsewhere. To help the novice reader, she provides a time line, a glossary, and a list of significant individuals who played key roles in the struggle. VERDICT At a reasonable price and length, and with contents that are eminently readable, Fink's history is a gem that should be in all 20th-century history collections.—Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames