# Cold War (1998)

> A 24-part American documentary chronicling the decades-long standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union from the end of World War II to the Soviet collapse.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/12599

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 24
- Episode runtime: 46 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: documentary, history
- Network: CNN
- Cast: Kenneth Branagh, George Blake, Joe Bulik, Melvin Goodman, Oleg Gordievsky, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Ngô Đình Diệm, Wojciech Jaruzelski
- TMDB rating: 8.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0170896/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: sober, measured, reflective, tense

## Synopsis

Cold War (1998-1999) is an American documentary history series broadcast on CNN, presented as a single 24-episode run of roughly 46 minutes each. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh, it follows the long standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies from the end of World War II to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Rather than dramatizing events, it builds each episode from archive footage and interviews with people who stood inside the machinery of power, including former intelligence figures such as George Blake and Oleg Gordievsky, along with former officials like Donald Regan and Melvin Goodman and Polish leader Wojciech Jaruzelski. Its engine is chronology: each installment moves the rivalry forward, showing how proxy conflicts, espionage, summit diplomacy and brinkmanship shaped the decades. The tone is sober, measured and reflective, with the weight of nuclear fear and ideological confrontation carried by testimony and grainy footage. Viewers who enjoy the broad sweep of The World at War or the careful archival approach of The Century of the Self will find a similar appeal. It is a single-season limited run, and its presentation is closer to a historical reference than a drama.

## Shows like Cold War

- [American Experience (1988)](https://ember.film/tv/1112)
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- [World War II with Tom Hanks (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1105057)
- [Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/108861)
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