Michael dobbs has pored over previously untapped american, soviet and cuban sources to provide the most authoritative book yet on the cuban missile crisis. Every sentence in the above paragraph describing the cuban missile crisis is misleading or erroneous. A memoir of the cuban missile crisis kennedy, robert f. The day showdown brought the worlds two superpowers to the brink of nuclear war. Cuban missile crisis simple english wikipedia, the free. Oct 22, 2012 lessons from the cuban missile crisis. Above and beyond looks at cuban missile crisis through. If you read british foreign office records from the 1940s, its clear they recognised that their day in the sun was over and that britain would have to be the junior partner of the united states, and sometimes treated in a humiliating way. The theme of thirteen days in my point of view was that russia was not going to scare the usa even though they had put missile in cuba and could kill millions of people. President kennedy with his cabinet during the cuban missile crisis. 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. Sep 14, 2012 as we come up towards the 50th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis, there are several new books coming out commemorating the crisis, adding new information and interpretation, and taking fresh looks at what history remembers as the most dangerous crisis of the nuclear age.
Learning from the missile crisis history smithsonian magazine. This book provides a lucid and uptodate introduction to the crisis, including american responsibility for causing it, and cubas role as an important actor rather. 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. But this was the rendition of events that the kennedy administration fed to a credulous press. Kennedy library, sta26162 the cuban missile war was the most devastating war in world history.
During the cuban missile crisis, soviet warheads on cuban soil could have attacked many major u. The claim in the dust jacket that this book rewrites the conventional history of the 1962 missile crisis is simply false. Designed to help policymakers, students, and interested citizens draw lessons from these critical events half a century ago, this site not only provides background on the crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster in october 1962 but also offers tools to understand how. The cuban missile crisis the cold war by peter chrisp hodder wayland, 2001 an unfinished life. Kennedy said to john kenneth galbraith just after the cuban missile crisis. The cuban missile crisis, also known as the october crisis of 1962 spanish. 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. List of books and articles about cuban missile crisis online. The cuban missile crisisknown as the october crisis or the missile scare in cuba and the caribbean crisis in the former ussrwas a day confrontation in october 1962 between the soviet union and cuba on one side and the united states on the other side. The cuban missile crisis involved a single discrete set of circumstances. Cuban missile crisis to detente introduction shmoop. The myth about how the united states won the cuban missile crisis made it more difficult for presidents to do what common sense dictated, says cfr president.
Kennedy to handle the tense situation that developed between the united states and the soviet. The cuban missile crisis by divine, r a and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Kennedy presidential library and museum the cuban missile crisis, october 1962. The cuban missile crisis edinburgh university press. Photographs taken by a highaltitude u2 spy plane offered. 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. Kennedys account of the cuban missile crisis of 1962. The cuban missile crisis was among the scariest events of the cold war. In russia, it is known as the caribbean crisis russian. After the cuban missile crisis, most of the uss oversea policy was focused on the americanization of vietnam and the vietnam war, which required full attention from the usa military resources rich 2003, p. Even now, fresh history continues to blow holes in what we thought we knew.
In october 1962, the kennedy administration faced its most serious foreign policy crisis. The crisis was a defining moment in the presidency of john f. In london, protesters stage a sitin against war over the cuban missile crisis oct. Top level decision making during the cuban missile crisis was a success because it consciously fought the groupthink phenomenon. In six concise chapters, alice george introduces the history of cold war america and contextualizes its political, social, and cultural legacy. Author casey sherman discusses research behind book about cold war and major rudolf anderson. Oct 10, 2019 the cuban missile crisis begins on october 14, 1962, bringing the united states and the soviet union to the brink of nuclear conflict. The authors draw on newly available documents to provide a comprehensive treatment of its causes, events, consequences, and significance. Any new entry in the crowded field of books on the 1962 cuban missile crisis must pass an immediate test. Belfer centers top 10 books on the cuban missile crisis belfer centers catalog of reading on nuclear danger today john f. List of books and articles about cuban missile crisis. Cuban missile crisis, 1962, major cold war confrontation between the united states and the soviet union.
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. Aerial reconnaissance during the cuban missile crisis by capt. What are some of the best nonfiction books on the cuban. An american spy plane eventually discovered the existence of missile sites off the coast of cuba, sparking what would come to be known as the cuban missile crisis. It took place in a changing organizational context that obstructed the establishment of set patterns of authority and influence. Cuban missile crisis timeline world history project. These historical documents are pdf images of formerly classified carbon paper and reports that have been declassified. Humankind has never come as close to apocalypse as it did in october 1962, when the united states and the soviet union found themselves locked in stalemate over nuclear missiles being installed in cuba. A memoir of the cuban missile crisis paperback november 17, 1999. The most useful part of the book is the account of anastas mikoyans discussions with castro in october and november 1962. The cuban missile crisis was a time of heightened confrontation between the soviet union, the united states, and cuba during the cold war. Learn by example and become a better writer with kibins suite of essay help services.
Stern, worked as a historian at the kennedy library in boston from 1977 to 2000. How cuba won the missile crisis public radio international. Harvard kennedy schools belfer center has created this site as a resource for the cuban missile crisis. A whatif history of the cuban missile crisis potomac, 2010, as well as nine other books, and is an associate professor. In this book, we will be talking about one of those occasions. Lessons from the cuban missile crisis council on foreign. Cuban missile crisis to detente about and why should i care. New books on the cuban missile crisis the fourteenth day. Due to the age and poor quality of some of the pdf images, a screen reader may not be able to process the images into word documents. The cuban missile crisis chapter 4 the cambridge history. Dec 12, 2017 forty years later, what is now known as the cuban missile crisis, which lasted for several weeks, is remembered as the hottest moment in the cold war between east and west and a defining moment in kennedys presidency. Welch distill the best current scholarship on the cuban missile crisis into a brief narrative history.
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. In conclusion, the major events prior to the cuban missile crisis were the cuban revolution, and the bay of pigs invasion. The cuban missile crisis is a time when the united states and the soviet union almost had a nuclear war. This is perhaps the closest that the united states and the soviet union came to nuclear. As we come up towards the 50th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis, there are several new books coming out commemorating the crisis, adding new information and interpretation, and taking fresh looks at what history remembers as the most dangerous crisis of the nuclear age. It is anastas mikoyans cuban missile crisis, and it is a translation of a book written by mikoyans son, sergo mikoyan.
Reading lists cuban missile crisiscuban missile crisis. Jfk and the aftermath of the cuban missile crisis norton, 2012. The cuban missile crisis and international law a book. Garthoff, a participant in the cuban missile crisis deliberations of the u. As we come up towards the 50th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis in october 2012, there are new books coming out. Soviet premier nikita khrushchev saw an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the soviet union and fidel castro s cuba and make good its promise to defend cuba from the. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Most of what you know about the cuban missile crisis is. Cuban missile crisis, october 1962, major confrontation that brought the united states and the soviet union close to war over the presence of soviet nucleararmed missiles in cuba. The cuban missile crisis of october 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the united states and the soviet union during the cold war and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. Discover librarianselected research resources on cuban missile crisis from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic journals. Above and beyond looks at cuban missile crisis through story of maj. Kennedy, 19171963 by robert dallek little, brown, to.
The united states refused to allow this and, after thirteen tense days and many secret negotiations, the soviet union agreed to remove the missiles. The new book is titled the cuban missile crisis in american memory. The cuban missile crises short history department history. Oct 14, 2012 far from being just a political storm in the caribbean, the cuban missile crisis came dangerously close to triggering a nuclear war between two superpowers, the us and the soviet union both. Most of what you know about the cuban missile crisis is wrong. The cuban missile crisis occurred in 1962 when the soviet union began to install nuclear missiles in cuba. The book does provide some useful additional detail on this score. A striking example of this was in 1962, the time of the cuban missile crisis. The book was released in 1969, a year after his assassination thirteen days describes the meetings held by the executive committee, the team assembled by us president john f. If the cuban missile crisis was the most dangerous passage of the cold war, the most dangerous moment of the cuban missile crisis was the evening of saturday, 27 october 1962, when the resolution of the crisiswar or peace appeared to hang in the balance. Kennedy demanded that all nuclear missiles be removed from cuba and blockaded the island to prevent further deliveries of nuclear warheads. Dec 26, 2015 if you want a more tacticallevel perspective on the cuban missile crisis, check out blue moon over cuba. Lets begin with rfk, who has been lionized as a clever statesmen, partly due to his own posthumous 1969 book on the crisis. In october 1962, at the height of the cold war, the united states and the soviet union came to the brink of nuclear conflict ove the deployment of soviet missiles to cuba.