Dr. Verena Botzenhart-Viehe, associate professor of history at Westminster College, is one of the four authors of a new textbook, The Origins of the Cold War published by Rowman and Littlefield.

The 192-page text is authored by Botzenhart-Viehe, Ralph B. Levering, history professor at Davidson College, Vladimir O. Pechatnov, chair of the Department of European and American Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, and C. Earl Edmondson, chair of the Department of History at Davidson College.

This unique history is the first book to give equal attention to the United States and Soviet policies and perspectives during the Cold War.   The authors demonstrate the huge gap that existed between the democratic, global vision of the post-World War II peace that most Americans believed in and the dictatorial, regional approach that characterized Soviet policies.

"The selection of Soviet and U.S. documents is exactly right, giving both a flavor of the times and a revealing glimpse into the quality of thought in Moscow and Washington," said David Mayers of Boston University.  "This first-rate book will appeal to university students and to specialists in Cold War history."

Botzenhart-Viehe, a native of West Germany who has been with Westminster College since 1990, earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Tulsa, her master's and Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.  Her previous publications include two chapters in the award-winning book, Notable U.S. Ambassadors Since 1775,  and a biography of the Argentine statesman Luis Maria Drago published in the book, Statesmen That Changed the World.

For more information, contact Botzenhart-Viehe at (724) 946-7245 or e-mail verenabv@westminster.edu.