In October 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be sliding inexorably toward a nuclear conflict over the placement of missiles in Cuba. Veteran Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs has pored over previously untapped American, Soviet, and Cuban sources to produce the most authoritative book yet on the Cuban missile crisis. In his hour-by-hour chronicle of those near-fatal days, Dobbs reveals some startling new incidents that illustrate how close we came to Armageddon. Here, for the first time, are gripping accounts of Khrushchev's plan to destroy the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo; the accidental overflight of the Soviet Union by an American spy plane; the movement of Soviet nuclear warheads around Cuba during the tensest days of the crisis; the activities of CIA agents inside Cuba; and the crash landing of an American F-106 jet with a live nuclear weapon on board. Dobbs takes us inside the White House and the Kremlin as Kennedy and Khrushchev--rational, intelligent men separated by an ocean of ideological suspicion--agonize over the possibility of war. He shows how these two leaders recognized the terrifying realities of the nuclear age while Castro--never swayed by conventional political considerations--demonstrated the messianic ambition of a man selected by history for a unique mission. As the story unfolds, Dobbs brings us onto the decks of American ships patrolling Cuba; inside sweltering Soviet submarines and missile units as they ready their warheads; and onto the streets of Miami, where anti-Castro exiles plot the dictator's overthrow. Based on exhaustive new research and told in breathtaking prose, here is a riveting account of history's most dangerous hours, full of lessons for our time.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Suspensefull and well written:
Finished this one in 9 days - it was truly engaging and very suspenseful, particularly when one considers that everything is true and well-documented by a talented and sophisticated writter. I recommend.
The Evil That Little Men Do:
This is the story of a few despicable, egotistical ideologues who held the fate of millions on their finger tips in a high stakes game of chicken in October, 1962. Fidel Castro was understandably p*ssed at the U.S. for her repeated attempts at sabotaging his beloved revolution, but that's hardly justification for insisting on a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the U.S. military and population at large. And the man who started it all was none other than Mr. Khrushchev, who came to his senses one minute to... more info
I remember we were so close:
This book is breathtaking. I was six years old when it all happened. I have read much on the Cuban Missile Crisis and thought all that could be said was said. However, I have been proved wrong. There is new information that reveals just how close we came to nuclear war. It is a book that reveals the humanness of Kennedy and Khruschev and the situations of mischance that can lead to resolution of conflcit or catastrophe. Young people of this generation should read this book and learn its lessons for the... more info
Incredible:
Having lived through the Cuban Missile crises I found this book to be exciting, revealing, and a most fascinating read of the interaction between the political and military leaders of the United States, USSR, and Cuba. It also gave me chills to read how close we came to nuclear war, and how much we misunderstood the capabilities of the Russian military. It seems to be a constant thread in our military in that they repeated this poor assessment in the Viet Nam war, in Iraq, and in Afghanistan. History books... more info
