World War One
This book, though it stands as a study of WW1 in its own right, was written to support your understanding of topics like the Treaty of Versailles, the work of the League of Nations, Weimar Germany and the rise to power of Hitler, and the causes of WW2. A long list! But that’s how important the impact of WW1 was, and it’s why I wrote the book. You cannot properly understand these topics if you don’t understand the debate surrounding the causes of WW1 and if you have no awareness of just how the war was fought and the impact that had on those fighting it. This book is offered to you FREE. First and foremost as a useful basis for much of the course you are studying. But it also stands as a sample of the work I am trying to induce you into buying!
The Treaty of Versailles and the other Paris Peace Treaties
This book briefly considers the nature of WW1 before moving onto examine the aims of the Big Four in deciding on the terms of the various peace treaties. The book then examines those terms in detail and their impact on the defeated nations as well as their reactions, particularly that of Germany (in the process always including points that you might not be aware of). In so doing it will consider whether the treaties were too much of a compromise, or whether they were fair or not, and could be justified at the time. The notes frameworks will guide your note-taking to meet your exam needs.
The Life and Work of the League of Nations
This book examines the purpose and the organisation of the League as well as its successes and failures, and importantly, the changing context in which it worked. The League’s humanitarian work (often overlooked) is given the detailed attention it deserves as well as the issues threatening peace that the League faced in the 1920s and 1930s. Other peace initiatives are included and their effect on the League’s work and its standing are considered. Notes frameworks include some guidance and are designed with your exam in mind. Whilst the conclusion encourages you to think about assessing the League’s work in a number of different ways that can only add to the quality of your own work.
Germany and the Causes of WW2
This book, of course, focuses in some depth on Hitler’s plans and schemes, and it also considers the impact of Britain’s policy of Appeasement and that of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. You would expect nothing less. There is, however, in both the text and the notes frameworks, a strong focus on how different factors link to each other as well as a strong focus on assessing their different significance which I hope you will find particularly useful. Whilst with regard to “Hitler’s War”, three different perspectives are offered. What Hitler did and explanations for Appeasement and the Nazi-Soviet Pact are all dealt with in detail, whilst the conclusion focuses directly on exam matters.
Explaining the Cold War
The book begins with a very detailed, yet clear, explanation of just what the Cold War was (something that is easily overlooked but shouldn’t be). It then goes back in time to consider long-term or more fundamental explanations for the Cold War as well as carefully examining what unfolded as the war ended and in the early post-war years, ending with the Berlin Blockade. The West’s perspectives on events are balanced with those from the Soviet Union and East European Communists so that you should be able to apportion blame where you think it best fits, if indeed there is “blame” to be attached to either side. The notes frameworks are set to guide your thinking not direct it.
Containment
This book on the American policy of Containment will properly explain the policy before embarking on detailed studies of Korea, Cuba and Vietnam, explaining the context as well as the wars themselves and, in the case of Cuba, the missile crisis. In particular, the Cold War in space and the nuclear arms race helps to put the Cuban Missile Crisis in context. Throughout the book, the text and the notes frameworks and tasks guide you towards detailed reasons for the different crises, detailed accounts of what unfolded as well as a thorough assessment of whether American policy was successful or not.
The Eastern Bloc and the End of the Cold War
This is a big topic and should be seen in two halves: the first dealing with crises that the Soviet Union was able to overcome, the second dealing with crises that brought about the Soviet Union’s collapse and the end of the Cold War. Each is dealt with a thoroughness and yet a clarity - setting each crisis in its context and providing detailed explanations, different perspectives and the means to enable you to form your own different conclusion - which, I hope, is a hallmark of all these books of mine. This one even steps back to look at the whole concept of control and how it is maintained in liberal democracies compared with authoritarian regimes such as the Soviet Union (or Saddam Hussein’s Iraq or Nazi Germany) and so something that should prove useful to you beyond this specific topic.
The Gulf at War with Itself
As with other studies, individuals and their personalities come to the fore in this book: Saddam Hussein, the Shah of Iran and Ayatollah Khomeini. Consequently, as well as setting their regimes in context, this book also considers, and seeks to explain, their different individual impact on the history of the Gulf. The book begins with a lengthy consideration of the imperial context before seeking to examine explanations for the rise to power of Saddam Hussein, the fall of the Shah and the rise to power of Ayatollah Khomeini, the revolution in Iran, the nature of Saddam’s regime and the wars that were inflicted on the region, as well as other consequences. And as always, my notes frameworks serve to guide your note-taking to meet the needs of your exam.