Movie buffs are familiar with classics like The Manchurian Candidate, The Right Stuff, and The Hunt for Red October. How well do these films depict the reality of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union?
This subject is explored by author Paul Frazier in his recently released book The Cold War on Film. Some in our neighborhood know Paul—his mother is Elaine Frazier, a long-time South Fitzhugh Street resident with her husband Donald Scott. Paul is married to Emily Frazier, and they have two children, Riley and Nora.
Paul is a history professor in Northern Kentucky and has been fascinated with history ever since his first visit to Gettysburg. If he is not reading or writing about history, he is probably playing a history-related board game or computer game. The Cold War on Film is his first book-length project.
In his 20-plus years as an educator, Paul has worked with a wide variety of students from different backgrounds and of different ages. Historical games, simulations, role-playing, and the examination of actual artifacts play a central role in his history classroom. Paul loves discussing history, writing, movies, and video games with his students.
Paul’s book examines how the Cold War has been portrayed through a selection of 10 iconic films, including recent ones such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Bridge of Spies. Chapters offer historical context for the films, weighing their depiction of events against the historical record and evaluating how well or how poorly those films reflected the truth and shaped public memory and discourse over the war. Fans of history and the movies are sure to enjoy it.
