The missile crisis in Cuba /

In October 1962 the US discovered secretly deployed nuclear-capable Soviet missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy and his top advisers debated whether or not to bomb or invade the island. These drastic options were nearly implemented. Kennedy finally decided to blockade Cuba while applying back-door diplomatic pressure on the Soviets. The crisis was resolved peacefully, with the Soviets agreeing to remove their missiles and the US pledging not to invade Cuba. Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove US nuclear missiles from Turkey. Not until the release of US and Soviet documents in the 1990s did historians know just how close Kennedy had come to triggering a nuclear exchange between the two superpowers. This new information has contributed to the publication of several superb monographs. Drawing on these recent studies, Eubank provides a succinct and judicious 105-page narrative of the missile crisis. Following this is a 115-page selection of documents. The book is intended for use as a supplementary reading in college history classes. Lower-division undergraduates. L. Maley III; University of Massachusetts at Amherst