The Best Cold War Documentaries

War & Military - 58 free documentaries about the cold war.

Start with The end of a superpower - The collapse of the Soviet Union (53 min, DW Documentary), then The Stasi and the Berlin Wall (42 min, DW Documentary). All 58 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on the cold war is The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre.

• The end of a superpower - The collapse of the Soviet Union (53 min, DW Documentary)
• The Stasi and the Berlin Wall (42 min, DW Documentary)
• How Kodak Exposed Nuclear Testing (13 min, Veritasium)
• The Soviet Union | Part 1: Red October to Barbarossa (45 min, Free Documentary - History)
• The Sino-Indian War: Why India Turned On China In The 1960s | Mao's Cold War (43 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• How NASA Discovered a Military Base under Greenland (22 min, Real Engineering)
• What the US Built Under Greenland (25 min, The B1M)
• Uncovering Arctic Military Secrets | Secrets in the Ice (30 min, Science Channel)
• Gorbachev's USSR: The Events That Led To The Collapse Of The Soviet Union | M.A.D World (52 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• The Secret Air Skirmishes Of The Cold War | Shot Down Over The Soviet Union (53 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• The Secrets Of China's Cold War Strategy | Mao's Cold War (44 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Built For World War III (15 min, Mustard)
• How The US Accidentally Dropped Nukes On Itself And Its Allies (8 min, Mustard)
• Meet The Russian Officer Who Saved The World (102 min, ENDEVR)
• America's Cold War Nuclear Cover Ups Declassified (104 min, Real Stories)
• Nuclear Crisis: The Escalation Of The Cold War | M.A.D World (52 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Beirut Bomb: How the CIA tried to wipe out Hezbollah! | CIA DECLASSIFIED (48 min, ENDEVR)
• MAD World - The History of the Cold War | Episode 7: Warmonger (52 min, Free Documentary - History)
• MAD World - The History of the Cold War | Episode 1: Superpowers (52 min, Free Documentary - History)
• How America Fought The USSR In Space (And Won) (84 min, Spark)
• The Secret Submarine Corridor That Defined The Cold War | Iceland: Cold War Frontier (51 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• US Embassy Attacks - CIA Hunt for Al Qaeda in Africa | CIA DECLASSIFIED (48 min, ENDEVR)
• The Real Star Wars (18 min, PBS Space Time)
• The Berlin Wall, our family and us (42 min, DW Documentary)
• USS Cole: Hunting the Mastermind Behind the Deadly Attack | CIA Declassified | FD History (49 min, Free Documentary - History)
• Mystery Places: Cold War Missile Sites, Most Modern City & Abandoned Airbase (53 min, Free Documentary)
• Why No One Could Touch the SR-71 (8 min, Mustard)
• How German Citizens Ended the Cold War: The Fall of the Berlin Wall | Vice (44 min, Our History)
• Why Was Iceland On The Front Lines Of The Cold War? | Iceland: Cold War Frontier (51 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• US Embassy Bombings: The CIA's First Hunt for Al-Qaeda | CIA Declassified | FD History (49 min, Free Documentary - History)
• The CIA's Longest Hunt For The World's Most Wanted Terrorists | CIA Declassified (49 min, Real Stories)
• 1945 - 1961: The Complete Story Of The Early Cold War (152 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Fortress of War: How 2 CIA Agents Stopped A Taliban uprising | CIA DECLASSIFIED (48 min, ENDEVR)
• MAD World - The History of the Cold War | Episode 6: Cold War II (52 min, Free Documentary - History)
• MAD World - The History of the Cold War | Episode 5: Peace & War (52 min, Free Documentary - History)
• MAD World - The History of the Cold War | Episode 4: Nuclear Poker (52 min, Free Documentary - History)
• MAD World - The History of the Cold War | Episode 3: Revolution (52 min, Free Documentary - History)
• MAD World - The History of the Cold War | Episode 2: Paranoia (52 min, Free Documentary - History)
• The Fall Of The Berlin Wall: What Happened? (49 min, Real Stories)
• How Cold War Shaped The World's First Spaceport | Baikonur Cosmodrome (49 min, Spark)
• How the CIA Planned to Overthrow Gaddafi For 30 Years | CIA Declassified | FD History (48 min, Free Documentary - History)
• MAD World - The History of the Cold War | Episode 8: Falling Dominoes (52 min, Free Documentary - History)
• Nuclear Doomsday Devices: The Cold War's Ultimate Weapons (100 min, Real Stories)
• Nukes, Afghanistan & A Missing Plane: The Human Cost Of The Cold War | M.A.D World (51 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Beirut Bomb: How the CIA Tried to Destroy Hezbollah in a Single Blow | CIA Declassified | FD History (48 min, Free Documentary - History)
• 1980 - 1999: Inside The Chaotic Final Chapter Of The Cold War (107 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Rare Footage From The Beginnings Of The Cold War (51 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Guatemala 1954: The CIA's Perfect Coup | CIA Declassified (48 min, Free Documentary - History)
• How the CIA had Osama bin Laden Killed | CIA Declassified (48 min, Free Documentary - History)
• Mao's Cold War: The Hidden Superpower | Part 3: China vs. USSR (44 min, Free Documentary - History)
• How CIA Agents Crushed a POW Uprising & Found the 'American Taliban' | CIA Declassified | FD History (48 min, Free Documentary - History)
• The Final Standoff Of The Cold War (52 min, Wonder)
• 86,000 Warheads: The Peak Of The Cold War's Nuclear Horror (51 min, Wonder)
• Udo Lindenberg: The Godfather of German Rock and the Fall of the Berlin Wall (26 min, DW Documentary)
• Iran Crisis: How the CIA faked a Movie to Rescue US Hostages | CIA Declassified | FD History (49 min, Free Documentary - History)
• Inside the CIA's Insane Plot to Assassinate Fidel Castro | CIA Declassified | FD History (48 min, Free Documentary - History)
• The Cold War Forbidden Zone (51 min, Wonder)
• How The Cold War Rapidly Developed The Space Race (44 min, Spark)

Top-Rated Books About The Cold War

1. The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre (4.5/5) - View on Amazon
2. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
3. Iron Curtain by Anne Applebaum - View on Amazon
4. One Minute to Midnight by Michael Dobbs (historian) - View on Amazon
5. Understanding movies by Louis D. Giannetti (3.7/5) - View on Amazon
6. The dead hand by David E. Hoffman - View on Amazon
7. The Lavender Scare by David K. Johnson - View on Amazon