Nuclear Folly - A New History of the Cuban Missile Crisis

''An enthralling account of a pivotal moment in modern history. . . replete with startling revelations about the deception and mutual suspicion that brought the US and Soviet Union to the brink of Armageddon in October 1962'' Martin Chilton, Independent The definitive new history of the Cuban Missile Crisis from the author of Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy, winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize For more than four weeks in the autumn of 1962 the world teetered. The consequences of a misplaced step during the Cuban Missile Crisis could not have been more grave. Ash and cinder, famine and fallout; nuclear war between the two most-powerful nations on Earth. In Nuclear Folly, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy tells the riveting story of those weeks, tracing the tortuous decision-making and calculated brinkmanship of John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro, and of their advisors and commanders on the ground. More often than not, Plokhy argues, the Americans and Soviets simply misread each other, operating under mutual distrust, second-guesses and false information. Despite all of this, nuclear disaster was avoided thanks to one very human reason: fear. Drawing on an impressive array of primary sources, including recently declassified KGB files, Plokhy masterfully illustrates the drama of those tense days. Authoritative, fast-paced and unforgettable, this is the definitive new account of the Cold War''s most perilous moment.

Report

An immense achievement, engrossing and terrifying, surely one of the most important books ever written about the Cuban Missile Crisis and 20th-century international relations Wall Street Journal

Product details

• Authors: Serhii Plokhy
• Publisher: Penguin Books Uk
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 31.10.2022
• EAN: 9780141993287
• ISBN: 978-0-14-199328-7
• No. of pages: 464
• Dimensions: 129 mm x 198 mm x 35 mm
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; USA, Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000, European History, POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / Diplomacy, Cuba, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, HISTORY / Caribbean & West Indies / Cuba, HISTORY / Military / Nuclear Warfare, HISTORY / Russia & the Former Soviet Union, c 1960 to c 1970, United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, Nuclear weapons, c 1960 to c 1969, Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe), USSR, Soviet Union