ABSTRACT
In We Now Know, Gaddis wanted to find out whether comparing new archives from the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China with those available in the United States and its allied countries would result in a new interpretation of Cold War history. He focuses on the first third of the Cold War for two reasons: he had more source material relating to that period, and he was able to make use of many new English language works devoted to that part of the Cold War. Gaddis was clear about the fact that the work owed a great deal to new source material and newly published research. He was especially open about his use of the Bulletins and working papers of the Cold War International History Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. Gaddis used secondary texts—that is, analysis and commentary—to construct the story he was telling and to provide insightful source material.
