You might want to consider this report from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Cold War (I am a member of the committee). It's not that it is the best treatment of the Cold War, but it does represent a recent, quick summary of the topic, a compendium of historic sites, and a bibliography (at least I believe this document will show all that - I didn't work my way to the end, but the hard copy I have has all of these things). Most importantly, if you cite this report, you will probably demonstrate that you are the only one who knows about it since it is relatively obscure and it is still preliminary: the Committee hasn't finished its business. Let me know if you have any questions.

If you haven't, I'd suggest reading George Kennan's "Long Telegram." Kennan was the deputy chief of staff at the American Embassy in Moscow immediately after the Second World War (and would later serve as Ambassador). In 1946 he was not happy with the way Truman was planning on handling the Soviet Union, so he sent a message (the aforementioned Long Telegram) explaining that rather than cooperate with the Soviets, the US should contain the spread of communism.

When that failed to gain notice, he published a longer version in the July 1947 edition of Foreign Affairs, titled "The Sources of Soviet Conduct" and under the pseudonym of "X". It largely set forth the official American policy towards the Soviet Union in the early stages of the Cold War, namely containment within Europe, and is arguably one of the most important documents regarding it. The two essays are not terribly long, and both are linked above for convenience. They will help give an idea of both the US and USSR's stance at the start of the Cold War, and the view of people who set forth how it was going to be.

The Atomic Cafe is an interesting collection of propaganda films and newsreels (including Bert the Turtle!). Really digestible and, in my opinion, really fun.

Not to state the obvious, but there's a lot going on with the Cold War. I'll always advocate for Fursenko and Naftali's Khrushchev's Cold War. Vladislav Zubok's Inside the Kremlin's Cold War also does a good job introducing the Soviet framework for the Cold War (from Stalin to Khrushchev, at least). I would stay away from Failed Empire, also by Zubok -- I found that I agreed with the premise a little less, and he treats Brezhnev really... strangely. I've never seen someone try and rehabilitate him before.

If you're more interested in the Western/American side, I really enjoyed Matt Brzezinski's Red Moon Rising; Tim Dobbs' One Minute to Midnight is also quite good. The first is about the Space Race as a general topic; the second is about the Cuban Missile Crisis. I found John Lewis Gaddis' The Cold War: A New History to be light and to the point (also a relatively short read on the entirety of the Cold War, checking in at just 352 pages).

It's been a few years since I studied History at A-level but there were 3 or 4 major boards with quite different specifications. If you could provide a link to the syllabus or mention a few of the points on it, you might get more specific answers that will be more relevant to your course.

This really depends on what kind of reader you are. If you don't have much time, then effectively anything by Gaddis will give you the Orthodox/Neo-Orthodox position, Walter LeFeber's America, Russia and the Cold War will give you a good economic-revisionist perspective, and any of Dallek's biographies are fun reads. If you have more time and want more nuance then I'd suggest reading some memoirs (Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, McNamara, LBJ), any book on Nitze, Kennan's Long Telegram, Stalin's February 9 1946 speech, Khrushchev's secret speech after Stalin's death, and so on.

As for documentaries/films - if you haven't yet, watch Dr. Strangelove, it will give you an incredibly humourous and yet sadly accurate picture of the early Cold War and mentality therein. Atomic Cafe is fine, a bit slanted, but still a quick and easy watch.

If you're looking for "raw" primary sources, take a look at FRUS (which are available free online up to certain time periods).

I'm a PhD Candidate specialising on the Eisenhower period but I've got a fair grasp on the rest of the Cold War too, so I'm happy to advise you on as many books and articles as you'd like.