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Home / Historical Periods / Cold War and Post-war Era

Period

Cold War and Post-war Era

1945–1991 CE

The Cold War Era began after World War II and lasted until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It was defined by rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, nuclear weapons, espionage, propaganda, proxy wars and divided Europe. The conflict was global, but often fought indirectly through intelligence, influence and regional wars.

Its importance lies in the way it made peace and war coexist. The superpowers avoided direct full-scale conflict, yet Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, coups, surveillance and nuclear fear shaped millions of lives. It is one of the strongest settings for spy fiction and political historical novels.

Cold War fiction is dominated by espionage and divided loyalties, with John le Carré, Len Deighton, Robert Littell, Charles Cumming and Joseph Kanon providing obvious author and series connections. The period also supports novels about Berlin, nuclear fear, proxy wars, defectors, surveillance and life behind the Iron Curtain. These pages can connect spy series with literary fiction about ideology, betrayal, exile and the long shadow of World War II.

Related people for Cold War and Post-war Era

Adolf Hitler1889–1945 Aleksandr Georgievich Kotikov1902–1981 Bernard Montgomery1887–1976 Charles de Gaulle1890–1970 Eleanor Rooseveltborn 1960 Erwin Rommel1891–1944 Frank L. Howley1903–1993 Franklin D. Roosevelt1882–1945 George VI1895–1952 Haile Selassie1892–1975 Harry S. Truman1884–1972 Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener1850–1916 John F. Kennedy1917–1963 Jomo Kenyatta1893–1978 Joseph Chamberlain1836–1914 Joseph McCarthy1908–1957 Joseph Stalin1878–1953 Kim Il Sung1890–1969 Mahatma Gandhi1869–1948 Mao Zedong1893–1976 Margaret Thatcher1925–2013 Martin Luther King Jr.1929–1968 Menelik II1844–1913 Mikhail Gorbachev1931–2022 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi1919–1980 Nikita Khrushchev1894–1971 Otto von Bismarck1815–1898 Paul Kruger1825–1904 Ronald Reagan1911–2004 Ruhollah Khomeini1902–1989 Ulysses S. Grantborn 1946 Victoria1819–1901 William Randolph Hearst1863–1951 Winston Churchill1874–1965

Series

Series about Cold War and Post-war Era (2 series)

Thalia, Texas and Duane Moore in Order

by Larry McMurtry 7 books 4.3

The Thalia novels follow several generations of characters in a fictional north Texas town as ranching, oil wealth and small-town institutions decline or change. Horseman, Pass By, Leaving Cheyenne and The Last Picture Show establish a community shaped by frustrated ambition, damaged families and limited opportunities. The Last…

Books

30 Best Novels About the Cold War and the post-war era

Bestselling authors first, then star rating.

Non Fiction

25 Non-Fiction Books About the Cold War and the post-war era

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.