LibGuides: Cold War: Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

Print Books: (Follow the links to find out more about the books!)

The Cuban Missile Crisis: a concise history by Don Munton; David A. Welch
Call Number: E841 .M796 2012 (Gumberg 3rd floor)
Stressing the importance of context in relation to the genesis, conduct, and resolution of the crisis, Munton and Welch examine events from the U.S., Soviet, and Cuban angles, revealing the vital role that differences in national perspectives played at every stage. While the book provides a concise, up-to-date look at this pivotal event, it also notes gaps and mysteries in the historical record and highlights important persistent interpretive disputes.
The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Threat of Nuclear War by Len Scott
Call Number: E841 .S35 2007 (Gumberg 3rd floor)
The Cuban Missile Crisis is the term used in the west to describe the events of October 1962, described by Robert Kennedy as the world brought to the abyss of nuclear destruction and the end of mankind. Yet debate remains about the risk of nuclear war and what lessons might be learned from the events of 1962 in understanding the role of nuclear weapons in international politics. The purpose of this book is to examine the role of nuclear weapons in the light of a huge amount of recent research and to evaluate the risk of inadvertent nuclear war.
Intelligence and the Cuban Missile Crisis by David A. Welch (Editor); James G. Blight (Editor)
Call Number: UB250 .I564 1998 (Gumberg 2nd floor)
This is the first study to examine throughly the role of US, Soviet and Cuban Intelligence in the nuclear crisis of 1962 - the closest the world has come to Armageddon.
The Kennedy Tapes: inside the White House during the Cuban missile crisis by Ernest R. May (Editor); Philip D. Zelikow (Editor)
Call Number: E841 .K4655 1997 (Gumberg 3rd floor)
In October 1962 the United States and the Soviet Union came to the brink of war, each brandishing enough nuclear weapons to obliterate civilization in the Northern Hemisphere. For two weeks the inner circle of President Kennedy's National Security Council debated what to do, twice coming to the point of attacking Soviet military units in Cuba - units equipped for nuclear retaliation. All through the situation, unbeknown to many of the participants except the President himself, tape was rolling, capturing everything for posterity.

eBooks: (Note: You will have to enter your MultiPass credentials to access these off-campus.)

Talk at the Brink: deliberation and decision during the Cuban Missile Crisis by David R. Gibson; David R. R. Gibson
In October 1962, the fate of the world hung on the American response to the discovery of Soviet nuclear missile sites in Cuba. That response was informed by hours of discussions between John F. Kennedy and his top advisers. What those advisers did not know was that President Kennedy was secretly taping their talks, providing future scholars with a rare inside look at high-level political deliberation in a moment of crisis. Talk at the Brink is the first book to examine these historic audio recordings from a sociological perspective. It reveals how conversational practices and dynamics shaped Kennedy's perception of the options available to him, thereby influencing his decisions and ultimately the outcome of the crisis.
Awaiting Armageddon: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis by Alice L. George
For thirteen days in October 1962, America stood at the brink of nuclear war. Nikita Khrushchev's decision to place nuclear missiles in Cuba and John F. Kennedy's defiant response introduced the possibility of unprecedented cataclysm. The immediate threat of destruction entered America's classrooms and its living rooms. Awaiting Armageddon provides the first in-depth look at this crisis as it roiled outside of government offices, where ordinary Americans realized their government was unprepared to protect either itself or its citizens from the dangers of nuclear war.

Resources from the Web

"An international crisis in October 1962, the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the US and the USSR. When the US discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island; the Soviet leader Khrushchev acceded to the US demands a week later." -The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

"The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 is the closest the world has ever come to full-scale nuclear war, and fear of the narrow means by which true disaster was averted frightened European and North American leaders into changes that dramatically altered the international system. Thereafter the Cold War entered a more stable phase, as the superpowers shifted from direct confrontation to a series of proxy wars fought over the ensuing generation throughout the developing world." -Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction

Cuban Missile Crisis
From the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World
The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962
From the Dept. of State, Office of the Historian
CQ Researcher: Cuba
Browse in-depth research articles on US-Cuba relations from as far back as 1930.
One Step from Nuclear War
See archival material from the National Archives on the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Strategic Air Command personnel interpreting reconnaissance photo during the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962.

Source: U.S. Air Force photo, public domain.