Cuban Missile Crisis Books

About Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union over the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. It is widely regarded as the closest the world has ever come to full-scale nuclear war. The crisis began when U.S. reconnaissance flights revealed the construction of Soviet missile launch sites on the island of Cuba, just 90 miles from the American mainland. President John F. Kennedy responded by imposing a naval 'quarantine' around Cuba to prevent further delivery of missiles and demanded the removal of the weapons already on the island. Tensions escalated rapidly, with both superpowers placing their military forces on high alert. Secret negotiations between Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev ensued, eventually resulting in a resolution: the USSR would dismantle its missile installations in Cuba in exchange for a U.S. public declaration not to invade Cuba and a secret agreement to remove American missiles from Turkey. The crisis had profound implications. It exposed the dangers of nuclear brinkmanship and led to the establishment of a direct communication hotline between Washington and Moscow. It also catalyzed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963 and spurred further arms control efforts. The Cuban Missile Crisis remains a defining moment of the Cold War and a sobering example of how close the world came to nuclear catastrophe.