When I study the Cold War, it seems that everything points to the USA being almost objectively the good guy, fighting to promote democracy, while the USSR is trying to force communism on the world. I see this so much that I know I must be missing something. The only way the USSR could have gone around imposing its will on the world for 50 years would be if the entire country was composed of evil assholes or I am not hearing their side of the story.
Maybe this is contradictory, but I don't want something considered revisionist. When I see American WWII propaganda, they depict the Japanese as cartoon animals. I'm assuming the depictions of the USSR I've read about must be something like the text version of this stuff. There is a kernel of truth buried in exaggeration.
Maybe not I'm not certain, but the story I have learned (and honestly believe) seems too one sided to make any sense.
I think the best overview of Soviet Cold War policy is Vladislav Zubok's A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev. While it's certainly an academic book, it still reads very well. You may also like Melvyn Leffler's For the Soul of Mankind. I think Leffler's book is the best overview of the Cold War that considers the ideologies and geopolitical concerns of both superpowers.