After the turbulent post-WWII years, peace yields to rising tensions between former allies. Amidst a divided Europe, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin emerge as ideological titans. Tracing through the Cold War's origins through their decisions, standoffs, and the race for supremacy. It covers early flashpoints: the 1949 Soviet atomic bomb test, the Berlin Airlift, and NATO's creation. Truman's Marshall Plan and Stalin's control over Eastern Bloc nations set the stage for a protracted standoff.