The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis
For 13 days in October 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union  teetered on the brink of a nuclear exchange after the Soviets placed  intermediate-range missiles on the island of Cuba. U.S. forces were poised at  red alert while the Soviets pledged to launch nuclear weapons if the island was  invaded. As the world watched anxiously, President John F. Kennedy and Soviet  Premier Nikita Khrushchev negotiated a truce that averted disaster. Throughout  this tense period, Kennedy and his closest advisors planned their strategy  carefully, while--unknown to all but Kennedy, his secretary, and possibly his  brother Robert--the historic discussions were being taped by hidden microphones  placed in the Oval Office. More than 23 hours of meetings and telephone calls  were recorded, all of which have been painstakingly transcribed and documented  inThe Kennedy Tapes,providing an intimate perspective on the decision- making process and the personalities involved. Enhanced by the commentary and  analysis of historians Ernest R. May and Philip D. Zelikow, this volume is the  essential reader on the Cuban missile crisis.