In 1850; with Northerners demanding that slavery be outlawed in the vast new territory America had just acquired in the Mexican- American War; Southerners threatened to secede from the Union. Veteran statesman Henry Clay proffered a solution: the Compromise of 1850; which saved the Union from dissolution for the next ten years and gave the North time to build its industrial might so that it could defeat the South once secession was at hand. Historian Robert V. Remini masterfully shows how Clay's recognition of the need for bipartisanship in times of crisis saved the Union—not once; but twice.
#520750 in Books Christopher Andrew 2006-10-10Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.04 x 1.61 x 5.46l; 2.03 #File Name: 0465003133736 pagesThe World Was Going Our Way the KGB and the Battle for the Third World newly Revealed Secrets from the Mitrokhin Archive
Review
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. The Finest Account of Soviet Activities in the Third WorldBy Jeffrey J. WardMy first recommendation to readers is to watch the superb Youtube video presentation at the International Spy Museum by Christopher Andrew in 2005 when this book was published. This is the best introduction. This is part of the Mitrokhin series and Vasili Mitrokhin should be credited as a co-author as is done on the title page. The book is dedicated to the late Mitrokhin and his late wife. Mitrohkin was the archivist of the KGB secret files and risked his life and probably that of his wife in smuggling his extensive notes out of Moscow to the newly free Baltic states. The first book in the series "The Sword and the Shield" published in 1999 should be read first and covers the entire history of Soviet intelligence. This book focuses on Soviet activities in the third world and will be of special interest to present and former residents of third world countries and scholars of modern third world history. I am passing this book on to a colleague born in Pakistan who will have a hard time putting down the parts describing KGB activities in Pakistan; Afghanistan and India. In this series; Cambridge historian Christopher Andrew points out that many previous works that claim to be based upon the release of previously secret KGB were actually accounts that were hand fed to authors by the current Russian Intelligence Service and are sanitized versions of KGB history. This is the real unsanitized history and is probably the most complete picture of any intelligence agency the world will ever see. It is must reading for anyone wanting to understand the cold war; the era of decolonization and the failure of the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan had it exactly right--this was indeed the "Evil Empire."15 of 15 people found the following review helpful. Excellent :better than prequelBy H. WilliamsThis book is even better than the first one (in my own opinion).For years;we were told that the front lines of the cold war were in Europe with the third world serving as a battlefield where the superpowers can fight proxy wars.Before this book came out we were very familiar with the CIA's role in Iran;Guatemala;Guyana;indonesia;Chile and other places using dirty tricks and covert operations to promote american interests.This book details the KGB 's equivalent operations.We learn that the KGB sponsored a "Hostile takeover " of india;that it was in close contact with Salvador Allende and Fidel Castro and that it was the main support for the ANC during the apartheid struggle.The book shows that although the KGB had numerous tactical successes ;in the long run this could not help the Soviet system as communism was a flawed ideology and doomed anyway.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Ultimately the failure of communism was its economy.By BernardZIt is a well written study of how the KGB tried to manipulate and fight the cold war in the third world.I was a bit disappointed though after reading at the start how this new and great archive was now available. Yet little of it is presented here. Overall there seemed little radically new in the book although there are some new and interesting points.For example in South Africa; I never realized how much the USSR and South Africa must have traded during the apartheid era in diamonds.The writers argument which I think is correct is that the KGB was one of the major means used by the Soviets to spread communism throughout the world. Often they were more inventive and clever then their enemies. Unfortunately for the USSR; either the form of communism that took shape in these third world countries produced a rival for example China or they became a major drain on the Soviet economy. Often they were played by the locals just like the US.At the end of the Cold War; in the third world as in many other fields the Soviet's economy could not afford the price.
