Primary Source Analysis: The Cold War

Mr. Jones, one of the history teachers at my school, approached me the other day to ask if I had any good resources on the Cold War that his 11th grade U. S. history students could use to complete their research projects. He also indicated that the wanted something audiovisual that he could use to enhance his lessons. I examined what we had in the collection and was discouraged by what I found. Most of the books we have are old and unappealing and could probably stand to be weeded, and we do not have any DVDs or audio materials related to the Cold War era. Since I know that several of his students are college-bound, I want to provide them with a high-quality resource that can really improve the quality of their research. Unfortunately, the

I chose these because I knew that students are required to work with primary sources in their research and writing projects and because I wanted to make the Cold War come alive for them through the voices of those who actually lived through it and shaped it. The first collection, The Cold War: A History in Documents, 2nd Edition by Allan M. Winkler (whom Booklist reviewer Gilbert Taylor acknowledges as a reputable historian), is part of the Pages in History series from Oxford University Press, a highly reputable publisher. Though Taylor’s review states that the book underrepresents the Communist perspective, its short length (172 pages), reasonable price (starting from $32.84 for a new paperback), and recent publication date (2011) makes it worthy of consideration. However, it is trumped by an older (2004), similarly titled offering from Oxford University Press, The Cold War: A History in Documents and Eyewitness Accounts by Jussi M. Hahnimäki and Odd Arne Westad. At a whopping 712 pages, this volume is much broader in breadth and depth than the previous title and offers perspectives from a variety of persons from around the world, from political leaders to everyday citizens. Moreover, it specifically makes connections to modern-day politics and world culture, making it a much more valuable choice for a comparable price. While it is the presumptive favorite at this point, there is one

In the case of the book, I chose more material over less because I want students to explore the breadth and depth of the Cold War on their own terms and interact with a plethora of personalities from the period. I envision many students working together from this resources and copying relevant documents. In terms of the DVD, I chose less content because of the price point and the reality that Mr. Jones may not have vast amounts of time to share it with his students, so I went for a “condensed: option that hits the high points of the Cold War while also offering sufficient depth for discussion. This process has taught me that it is not easy to make decisions about ordering products and that I should look for special distinguishing features (including differences in content) to help me choose between materials. I have learned that when financial limitations are in play that you sometimes have to discern what will suffice given the amount of money you have. As the above cases illustrate, sometimes less is more and more is less. Ultimately, I tried to focus on what would be most helpful for the students and the teacher, even if my selections may seem to illustrate opposite principles. Nevertheless, I plan to keep several files of items for