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.
What Others Say
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 midnight to avoid a disaster of monumental proportions, and decided Castro was too trigger happy to be entrusted with launch codes to Russian nukes. Mr. Khrushchev was under the mistaken belief that his military would secretly transfer ... Read More
I remember we were so close
One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War 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 One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War and learn its lessons for the future. Perhaps former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara said it best in his film, "Fog of War": "The indefinte exsitence of nuclear weapons and human faliibility will destroy nations." Enough said, read the book!
Incredible
Having lived through the Cuban Missile crises I found One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War 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 such as this should be must reading for all college freshman, for all budding young politicians, and for all military leaders. It is only through books such as this do we have any hope of changing future direction by understanding the ... Read More
Most accurate history of Cuban Missile Crisis to date!
Michael Dobbs applies his journalistic skill to bring the drama and stress of the Cuban Missile Crisis alive for another generation. Dobbs writes in his acknowledgements and notes on sources, "What is there new to say about a subject that has been so exhaustively studied?" He answers himself with "The answer, it turned out, is a great deal." I could not agree with him more.
Like most Americans, my knowledge of the Cuban Missile Crisis was shaped by Hollywood in movies such as Roger Donaldon's "Thirteen Days". While the movie was accurate on most of the major events, Dobbs goes where no one else has ventured before. He reviewed original American, Cuban, and Russian source documents to tread a lot of new territory. Dobbs sets ... Read More
