For over forty years much of the world was held captive by a conflict between two wholly incompatible economic ideologies - capitalism and communism - and the two primary superpower countries who practiced them, the United States and the Soviet Union. Written in accessible language for readers with little or no previous knowledge about the subject, this work is first a general history of the Cold War, with an overview of its root causes and the policies and theories that were in place from 1947 through 1990. A thoroughly annotated chronology of important Cold War events follows. Short biographies of some of the major United States' political figures and world leaders conclude the work.