Welch distill the best current scholarship on the cuban missile crisis into a brief and accessible narrative history. Inside the white house during the cuban missile crisis edited by ernest r. Stressing the importance of context in relation to. This book exposes the misconceptions, halftruths, and outright lies that have shaped the still dominant but largely mythical version of what happened in the white house during those harrowing two weeks of secret cuban missile crisis deliberations. The memoirhistory is wellwritten, though i wouldnt call it a comprehensive document of the entire episode. Kennedy took a calculated risk and succeeded in negotiating the removal of those weapons after weeks of. Late the night before, the cia had produced detailed photo intelligence identifying soviet nuclear missile installations under construction on the island of cuba, some ninety miles off the florida coast. In six concise chapters, alice george introduces the history of cold war america and contextualizes its political, social, and cultural legacy. E j carter provides an account of the cuban missile crisis of 1962, a cold war event in which the world was brought to the brink of nuclear war, and discusses some of the people who worked to find a peaceful.
This even tis precipitated when soviet offensive weapons are found in cuba, contrary to public and private promises by premier nikita s. In russia, it is known as the caribbean crisis russian. The cuban missile crisis at 55 maps and charts prepared by cuban historians for the 55th anniversary of the missile crisis showing deployments of soviet forces missiles and troops, range of soviet missiles, and scope of u. The goldstandard of missile crisis books, however, is probably graham allisons essence of decision. The cuban missile crisis download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl. As a reporter for the washington post and a foreign correspondent having covered the collapse of communism, dobbss careful attention to detail and knowledge of this event is evident throughout the book. List of books and articles about cuban missile crisis. Available in the national security archives microfiche collection, the cuban missile crisis, 1962. In his hourbyhour chronicle of those nearfatal days, dobbs reveals some startling new incidents that show how close we came to armageddon. Kennedy s account of the cuban missile crisis of 1962. The crisis was a defining moment in the presidency of john f.
Fortunatly, kennedy and khrouchtchev kept cool heads and did not listen to war hawks on both sides. The new book is titled the cuban missile crisis in american memory. Explaining the cuban missile crisis, epub 2nd edition pdf, epub, docx and torrent then this site is not for you. Most of what you know about the cuban missile crisis is wrong. Michael dobbs has pored over previously untapped american, soviet and cuban sources to provide the most authoritative book yet on the cuban missile crisis. Hilsmans book is one of only two accounts of the cuban missile crisis written by one of the principals, and has added significance in light of the turbid state and uncertain future of nuclear. Jul 20, 2018 the cuban missile crisis was a confrontation between the us and ussr concerning the latters deployment of ballistic missiles in cuba and the formers deployment of ballistic missiles in turkey and italy. Inside the white house during the cuban missile crisis, a 2000 docudrama directed by roger donaldson about the crisis. Kennedy presidential library and museum the cuban missile crisis, october 1962.
Both the americans and soviets were sobered by the cuban missile crisis. This book tells the story of the cuban missile crisis in 1962, the struggle that president kennedy and his advisers including the author, who was head of intelligence at the state department went through to try to understand why the soviet union had put nuclear missiles in cuba, the alternative policies they debated to deal with the presence of the missiles, the aftermath of the crisis, and. Sep 14, 2012 most books on the cuban missile crisis tell the story through the perspective of memoirs of those who advised president kennedy, as he struggled to avoid world war iii. Thirteen days describes the meetings held by the executive committee excomm, the team assembled by us president john f. The book was released in 1969, a year after his assassination. The executive committee of the national security council excomm, meeting in the white house cabinet room, sorted through intelligence and advised the president during the cuban missile crisis. This book is about the cuban missile crisis that began on october 16, 1962 when the soviet union began to send ballistic missiles to the cuban island. A summary of the cuban missile crisis would be that there was a day worrisome military and political standoff in october of 1962 due to the nucleararmed missiles in cuba, which ended when the united states allowed the soviet leader, nikita khrushchev, to remove the cuban missiles as long as the u. Oct 16, 2017 the cuban missile crisis at 55 maps and charts prepared by cuban historians for the 55th anniversary of the missile crisis showing deployments of soviet forces missiles and troops, range of soviet missiles, and scope of u.
Kennedy relied on a history book to guide him in the cuban missile crisis and we now know that book was wrong by jordan michael smith globe correspondent, october 21, 2012, 12. The following year, a direct hot line communication link was installed between washington and moscow to help defuse similar situations, and the superpowers signed two treaties related to nuclear weapons. In response to the bay of pigs invasion and other american actions against cuba as well as to president kennedys buildup in italy and turkey of u. Oct 28, 2019 on october 27, 1962, u2 pilot rudolf anderson jr. Cuban missile crisis world history free pdf download. Cuban missile crisis, major confrontation at the height of the cold war that brought the united states and the soviet union to the brink of a shooting war in october 1962 over the presence of soviet nucleararmed missiles in cuba. For thirteen days in october of 1962, a truly perilous flirtation with nuclear war developed between the united states and ussr, as the superpowers argued over the installation of soviet nuclear weapons in cuba. Eyeball to eyeball an alternate cuban missile crisis series book 1 by douglas niles. I had read this book many years ago in a class in negotiations in graduate school. Fortunatly, kennedy and khrouchtchev kept cool heads and did not listen to. Thirteen days is a look from within about the cuban missile crisis. Kennedy called together a group of his closest advisers at the white house.
President kennedy and secretary of defense mcnamara in an excomm meeting. It was a proxy conflict around cuba it began when the soviet union ussr began building missile sites in cuba in 1962. A whatif history of the cuban missile crisis potomac, 2010, as well as nine other books, and is an associate professor. Khrushchevs secret dispatch of nuclear missiles to fidel castros revolutionary cuba and us president john f. A national security archive documents reader by laurence chang editor the book evolved from a sixyear project to obtain, organize, and disseminate the declassified records of the cuban missile crisis. Garthoff, a participant in the cuban missile crisis deliberations of the u. The cuban missile crisis at 55 national security archive. In this book, we will be talking about one of those occasions. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. At the time of the missile crisis, the soviets had 36 intercontinental ballistic missiles icbms, 8 longrange bombers with 392 nuclear warheads, and 72 submarinelaunched ballisticmissile. What are some of the best nonfiction books on the cuban.
The authors draw on newly available documents to provide a comprehensive treatment of its causes, events, consequences, and significance. Most of what you know about the cuban missile crisis is. Aerial reconnaissance during the cuban missile crisis by capt. Cuban missile crisis simple english wikipedia, the free. The cuban missile crisis, also known as the october crisis of 1962 spanish. This book is the story of the 1962 cuban missile crisis, the closest the world has ever come to a full out, no holds barred, nuclear war. Welch and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Ripe for jeff shaaras vivid alchemy of factbased fiction, here is the cuban missile crisis as readers have never seen it. Stern, worked as a historian at the kennedy library in boston from 1977 to.
The secret history of the cuban missile crisis the kennedy tapes. The cuban missile crisis was a time of heightened confrontation between the soviet union, the united states, and cuba during the cold war. Step by step, robert kennedy gets us through those perilous days when a misunderstanding, a misstep could certainly have cause the end of mankind. Have you ever heard of the cuban missile crisis or what happened during it. Using government memoranda, personal letters, and newspaper articles the cuban missile crisis, details the actual events of the political history, while explaining widespread public response. The cuban missile crisis is the closest the united states came to nuclear war during the cold war era. A concise history, second edition, don munton and david a. When president kennedy found out, he was not happy.
Kennedy library, sta26162 the cuban missile war was the most devastating war in world history. Americans and soviets reexamine the cuban missile crisis by james g. Inside the white house during the cuban missile crisis essence of decision. As we saw earlier, the key to being a good chess player is to try and understand what the other player is thinking and what they want. The events of the cuban missile crisis could not be any better researched in one minute to midnight, a nonfiction book by michael dobbs. Explaining the cuban missile crisis 2nd edition summary hillbilly elegy. Cuban missile crisis, 1962, major cold war confrontation between the united states and the soviet union. I cannot think of a single more important book, in any discipline, that has helped me understand another partys point of view and decisionmaking.
Reproductions of 83 documents are presented chronologically, in four introduced sections. If youre looking for a free download links of essence of decision. Harvard university press, 1997 all times indicated are approximate. Svetlana savranskaya mikoyan archive reveals cuba a nearnuclear power new book shows crisis unresolved until november 22, 1962. Its application to realworld situations is almost without limit. At midday, and again in the early evening of october 16, 1962, john f. The cuban missile crisis involved a single discrete set of circumstances. Book overview new york times bestselling author jeff shaara brings alive the heartstopping days and nights of the cuban missile crisis in a novel featuring his trademark you are there immediacy. The threshold of nuclear war critical moments in american history series by alice george. Kennedys book on the cuban missile crisis describes the actions at the highest levels of the american government during october of 1962.
Facing down the buildup of soviet missiles in cuba in 1962, president john f. It is often considered as the cold war of cuba which was extended to a great level that there was a major possibility of the conversion of the cold war into a nuclear war between the. This book explains the critical events, along with the experiences of those who execute presidential commands in times of national crisis. A halfcentury after the event it is surely time to demonstrate, once and for all, that rfks thirteen days and the personal memoirs of other. The crisis, also called the october crisis of 1962 or the caribbean crisis, was one of the closest moments during the cold war when the. The following charts showing ship deployments and movements on each day of the cuban missile crisis were the work of flag plot and asw plot, special components of the office of the chief of naval operations. Click download or read online button to get the cuban missile crisis book now. Belfer centers top 10 books on the cuban missile crisis belfer centers catalog of reading on nuclear danger today john f. Castro, mikoyan, kennedy, khrushchev, and the missiles of november by sergo mikoyan, ed. Kennedy took a calculated risk and succeeded in negotiating the removal of those weapons after weeks of teetering on the brink of war. The cuban missile crisis, commonly known as the caribbean crisis in russian terms and october crisis in cuban terms is the time highlighting the juxtaposition between the soviet union, cuba, and the united states.
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