First published 2022
In October 1962, the discovery of atomic missiles on Cuban soil forces President John F. Kennedy into a deadly confrontation with the Soviet Union. The world teeters on the brink of a third global war as two superpowers engage in a high-stakes standoff. Kennedy must navigate intelligence failures, political pressure, and the real possibility of nuclear annihilation. Meanwhile, Soviet Premier Khrushchev faces his own challenges within the Politburo as the crisis unfolds. Serhii Plokhy draws on newly available documentation to reveal critical intelligence mistakes on both American and Soviet sides. The narrative captures not only the thirteen days that nearly ended civilization, but also the broader context of the Cuban Revolution, the Kennedy administration's inner workings, and Khrushchev's political rise and eventual downfall. Sixty years after the crisis, with Ukraine at war, this analysis examines how individual decisions by world leaders brought humanity to the edge of nuclear destruction.
Genres: history, 20th-century, 21st-century, military-history, political-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, high-stakes
Setting: Cuba, Soviet Union, United States
Period: 1962, Cold War
448 pages · Paperback · Turner
Content warnings: death, violence