and Russian relations dramatically. From The Unfinished Journey I really learned a lot about the Cold War that I didn't know. The most important thing I learned was that America didn't have to be at war with Russia. There's this ingrained idea in Americans that the Russians would come, bomb all Americans, and turn us all into communists. However, there was really no chance for the Russians to do so until much later. This, most likely, began with Truman waving the atomic bomb in Stalin's face, which if he had not done so perhaps there would never have been an arms race, and therefore no threat. All in all Chafe's read on the origins of the Cold War was a lot of fun and I would definitely recommend it