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Bezig met laden... Gambling with Armageddon: Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisisdoor Martin J. Sherwin
History (62) Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Sherwin says that when he set out to write this history of nuclear confrontation from WWII to the Cuban Missile Crisis, he thought he was going to disprove the claim that nuclear war was avoided only by luck; by the end, though, he was absolutely convinced that luck was the only explanation. With a kind of literary rack focus, he starts with some details of the crisis itself—orders to launch missiles on both sides, given by low-level officials, that were only overridden due to the luck of the draw of who was listening to them—and then pulls back to give a history of nuclear doctrine after WWII and then a policy history of the crisis, in which Kennedy plays the role of pushing for a political solution over the desires of most of his Cabinet to go to war. Adlai Stevenson shows up as a disliked but valued counselor who also doesn’t want a war. I really enjoyed the book, though I can see where someone wouldn’t like the organization; the connections between the policy and the near disasters on the ground could have been explored in greater detail. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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"From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer comes the first effort to set the Cuban Missile Crisis, with its potential for nuclear holocaust, in a wider historical narrative of the Cold War--how such a crisis arose, and why at the very last possible moment it didn't happen. In this groundbreaking look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, Martin Sherwin not only gives us a riveting sometimes hour-by-hour explanation of the crisis itself, but also explores the origins, scope, and consequences of the evolving place of nuclear weapons in the post WWII world. Mining new sources and materials, and going far beyond the scope of earlier works on this critical face-off between the United States and the Soviet Union--triggered when Khruschev began installing missiles in Cuba at Castro's behest--Sherwin shows how this volatile event was an integral part of the wider Cold War and was a consequence of nuclear arms. Gambling with Armageddon looks in particular at the original debate in the Truman Administration about using the Atomic Bomb; the way in which President Eisenhower relied on the threat of massive retaliation to project U.S. power in the early Cold War era; and how President Kennedy, though unprepared to deal with the Bay of Pigs debacle, came of age during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Here too is a clarifying picture of what was going on in Khruschev's Soviet Union. Martin Sherwin has spent his career in the study of nuclear weapons and how they have shaped our world--Gambling with Armegeddon is an outstanding capstone to his work thus far"-- Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)972.9106History and Geography North America Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Bermuda West Indies (Antilles) and Bermuda; Caribbean Cuba CubaLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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Exploration of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. It provides the background and context for the Cold War, starting from the first usage of atomic weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II. It covers the key players leading up to the crisis, including Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro. The major dramatic set piece is a gripping and detailed analysis of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It emphasizes the role luck played in a handful of direct confrontations, in which thermonuclear war could have easily resulted.
Sherwin used recordings, memorandums, and notes from actual meetings between Kennedy and his advisors. He also provides documentation of Khrushchev’s perspectives, speeches, and personal correspondences with Kennedy. We learn about the US missiles in Turkey and the manner in which an agreement was reached to stand down.
Initially, many people in the US military and political arena wanted to invade Cuba. This book portrays what a bad idea that would have been. It illustrates the importance of leadership, and the willingness to follow a path to diplomacy. Recommended to anyone who wants to understand the Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, and how close we came to devastating consequences.
4.5
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