[Seb Falk]

Hi all,

I'm not that happy teaching the IB's Topic 1 (Causes, Practices and Effects of Wars) and am thinking of switching to Topic 3 (the Cold War). I hope this will fit better with our other options (HL Asia, Single Party States and Communism in Crisis).

Does anyone have any recommendations for a basic text book that covers the bones of the Cold War/Communism in Crisis? (I'm not too fussed about the China bit of Communism in Crisis; we have plenty of material for that already.)

Also, when teaching Topic 5, it seems much harder to avoid having to cover all the "material for detailed study" than it would be for Topic 1 (where we currently just do WWI, WWII and the Chinese Civil War). Does anyone have any tips on what can be covered and what left out?

Thanks,

Seb

This post has been edited by Seb Falk: 05 November 2009 - 03:03 AM

[Aaron O'Brien]

Seb Falk, on 05 November 2009 - 03:02 AM, said:

Hi all,

I'm not that happy teaching the IB's Topic 1 (Causes, Practices and Effects of Wars) and am thinking of switching to Topic 3 (the Cold War). I hope this will fit better with our other options (HL Asia, Single Party States and Communism in Crisis).

Does anyone have any recommendations for a basic text book that covers the bones of the Cold War/Communism in Crisis? (I'm not too fussed about the China bit of Communism in Crisis; we have plenty of material for that already.)

Also, when teaching Topic 5, it seems much harder to avoid having to cover all the "material for detailed study" than it would be for Topic 1 (where we currently just do WWI, WWII and the Chinese Civil War). Does anyone have any tips on what can be covered and what left out?

Thanks,

Seb

HI Seb

I cannot help you with any IB-specific questions as I teach the CIE AS/A2 curriculum, but we have just switched to Europe and the Cold War, 1945-1991 (Access to History) by David Williamson, supplementing it with The Cold War (Cambridge Perspectives in History) (Paperback) by Mike Sewell. Both are on Amazon.

Over the last three years I have been using the Heinemann book The Cold War by Steve Phillips but I just don't like the book as a general text [however the A2 analytical sections in the second half of the book are useful for discussions].

In reality I don't think I will ever find a single text that really works for the CIE syllabus, Cold War 1945-91 as the Globalisation of the CW/UNS sourcework topics are so broad that multiple texts are needed.

All the best, Aaron

[Alick Brown]

Barebones... we tend to start with Steve Phillips: the Cold War (Heinemann). Good for introducing new students gently. As Aaron says the second half develops some issues.
Mike Sewell's book is good - clear and doesn't just tell a story. I think you would want to supplement it.

The new Heinemann IB book by Keely Rogers and Jo Thomas is probably better than either of these. It seems to me to be stronger on the early years - gets a bit thinner in trying to be global later on.

A thorough narrative history is Robert Grogin: Natural Enemies.

Another more thorough text - narrative with commentaries introducing periods in the Cold War - is S.J. Ball: The Cold War (Hodder).

I can send you a reading list which covers topics if you are able to build a library.

--------

As to how much to teach... It is possible to teach through the 'material for detailed study' within the time. You'll certainly find the topic easier to manage than 'Wars'.
I guess we do focus on the two main superpowers, but now do more on China because of Paper 1.
If you look at past Qs [I can send you a list] you'll see that the Origins are always popular, you could skim the 50s having done the Korean War, there are sometimes questions on importance of Germany, or Cuba, look at Detente if you have time, and then the End often has a question.

Hope this helps.

This post has been edited by Alick Brown: 06 November 2009 - 08:29 AM

[Laurence Hicks]

In terms of a textbook for the Cold War, the one that I use is by Rogers and Thomas (Heinemann) but it's far from ideal even though it's endorsed by the IB. In addition, I just cover the start and the end of the Cold War because under the previous syllabus there was always a question on either the start or the end, and frequently there were questions on both. I'd endorse what Aaron says about Williamson and Sewell, but the fact of the matter is that no text book covers the end of the Cold War in much depth, so I supplement my work with bits of The Cold War by Gaddis (Penguin) and the mammoth Post War by Tony Judt (Pimlico).

[Seb Falk]

Thanks everyone, that's really helpful. Alick - it would be great to see that reading list; I'll message you with my email address if that's OK.

If anyone else has any more suggestions that would be great. Do you know if the publishers of any of these can be persuaded to send sample copies?

[Aaron O'Brien]

Seb Falk, on 08 November 2009 - 05:28 PM, said:

Thanks everyone, that's really helpful. Alick - it would be great to see that reading list; I'll message you with my email address if that's OK.

If anyone else has any more suggestions that would be great. Do you know if the publishers of any of these can be persuaded to send sample copies?

HI Seb
I just went to the Hodder site here http://www.hodderedu...nd_Edition.htmt
There is a facility for "inspection copies". I do not know the procedure in UK schools [or where you are], but generally I have found publishers here in NZ more than happy to provide single copies on approval/inspection to a school address in the hope of securing future class-sized orders.

Aaron