This book provides a concise analysis of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union during the whole period of the Cold War from 1945 to 1991. It explains the rise of the two superpowers immediately after World War II. The author describes the growing confrontation between East and West in Europe dating from the announcement of the Truman Doctrine in 1949 to the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. Full attention is paid to the extension of the conflict beyond Europe. The analysis covers superpower relations in the 1970s and the developments of the 1980s that led to the end of the Cold War.