From the Publisher
For sheer drama, this work of history may never be duplicated. The events of the Cuban Missile Crisis unfold in the actual words of President John F. Kennedy and his top advisers. Now available in a new, concise edition, this book retains its gripping sense of history in the making. 20 photographs. "[A] splendid achievement, as powerful and exciting a book as one is likely to read this year...."-Barry Gewen, New York Times Book Review "Gripping history."-Richard J. Tofel, Wall Street Journal "[M]esmerizing. I was utterly fascinated....the best, fullest account of crisis yet and will remain so for decades to come."-Stephen E. Ambrose "[A]s close as most people will ever get to being a fly on the wall during the discussions of leaders."-Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, James G. Blight
Stephen E. Ambrose
[M]esmerizing. I was utterly fascinated....the best, fullest account of crisis yet and will remain so for decades to come.
Richard J. Tofel
Gripping history. —Wall Street Journal
James G. Blight
[A]s close as most people will ever get to being a fly on the wall during the discussions of leaders. —Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review
Hendrik Hertzberg
Riveting. . . The Kennedy Tapes. . . [is] a suspenseful, self-contained narrative of a single intense episode. . . which in retrospect stands out as the most dangerous moment of the Cold War. -- New Yorker
Barry Gewen
[A] splendid achievement, as powerful and exciting a book as one is likely to read this year.... —New York Times Book Review
(James Baker, former Secretary of State Observer (London)) -
James Baker
To read [The Kennedy Tapes] is to be in the White House in those fateful days of October, 1962…This immediacy is new, and it is endlessly fascinating…The Kennedy Tapes is a must-read, not only for the student of history or international affairs, but for citizens of any country who hold out the hope that the Earth will never face such a crisis again.
Newsweek -
Philip Seib
The Kennedy Tapes will fascinate anyone interested in history and anyone interested in how the American government works when its citizens most depend on it.
Bruce W. Melan Time -
Bruce Melan
[The Kennedy Tapes] is 700 pages of terror and drama.
Kim Weiner New York Times -
Kim Weiner
The transcripts…capture the power and drama of the moment. They show just how raw things were in the White House. They let readers hear leaders thinking out loud about what to do to force the Soviets to withdraw the missile. The raise ideas about nuclear weapons, political power and civilian control of the military that remain vital today…The tapes show men mulling over a global chess game in which the wrong move kills millions…The words are a record of decision-making in a nuclear crisis that has no equal.
Kirkus Reviews
The glimpse we get into the making of U.S. policy in a crisis—in this case the Cuban missile crisis—is unique and, in light of the historical and legal problems of the taping of White House conversations by presidents, may well remain so.
Which is a great pity, for despite the apparently poor quality of the tapes and various unresolved questions relating to them, the picture of U.S officials dealing with the most serious crisis of the Cold War is memorable. Although the editors, both scholars at Harvard, rightly remark on the "inherently disorderly character" of such meetings, the quality of understanding and analysis the participants brought to the task was high. There are some exceptions: The lack of esteem felt by Kennedy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff seems justified by their performance (General LeMay openly equated Kennedy's actions with "the appeasement at Munich"); the congressional group brought in to advise was less than helpful, Senator Fulbright, ironically, calling for an immediate all-out invasion. Kennedy privately chews Secretary Rusk out for failing to do contingency planning on the U.S. missiles in Turkey. But the praise given by the editors to Kennedy seems justified, not only for his clear recognition of the awesome responsibilities of his actions, but for asking questions that his advisors had neglected. The editors write of his "cold analytical mind," and indeed he alone notes that U.S. allies think that on the subject of Cuba "we're slightly demented"; if anything, he tends to be pessimistic ("He'll grab Berlin, of course," he says of Khrushchev). But it is particularly impressive when contrasted with the idiosyncratic, unsystematic, and uninformed policymaking of Khrushchev.
A remarkable and truly historic record, well analyzed and put in context by May and Zelikow.
What People Are Saying
Stephen E. Ambrose
The Kennedy Tapes is mesmerizing. I was utterly fascinated. The book is the best, fullest account of crisis yet and will remain so for decades to come…I can't think of when I've learned more from a single book.
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