Description
Book SynopsisIn October, 1962, the Cuban missile crisis brought human civilization to the brink of destruction. On the 50th anniversary of the most dangerous confrontation of the nuclear era, two of the leading experts on the crisis recreate the drama of those tumultuous days as experienced by the leaders of the three countries directly involved: U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and Cuban President Fidel Castro. Organized around the letters exchanged among the leaders as the crisis developed and augmented with many personal details of the circumstances under which they were written, considered, and received, Blight and Lang poignantly document the rapidly shifting physical and psychological realities faced in Washington, Moscow, and Havana. The result is a revolving stage that allows the reader to experience the Cuban missile crisis as never beforethrough the eyes of each leader as they move through the crisis. The Armageddon Letters: Kennedy, Khrushchev, Castro in
Trade ReviewThe Armageddon Letters innovatively and emotively. . . attempts to reverse the presumed apathy of young people toward nuclear holocaust. . . . [Blight and Lang] succeed as pioneers; their transmedia presentation is a great means of waking up a new generation to history and its lessons. ... Blight draws creative connections that grab our attention. ... the authors achieve their heartfelt intention of saturating us with warnings about a nuclear disaster. This multimedia and transmedia project largely works. . . . We are fortunate that we are sitting here now to read about Armageddon, rather than having experienced it—and that second chance is what Blight and Lang have so cleverly marketed to us. * Journal of American History *
Table of ContentsDedication Epigraph Foreword by Peter Almond Introduction. Armageddon in Retrospect: “Carrying the Fire” of the Cuban Missile Crisis Into the 21st Century Cast of Characters. Three Leaders/Three Crises Prelude. Sleepwalk: April 1961-October 1962 Act I. Collision: October 22, 23 1962 Act II. Spiral: October 23-28 1962 Act III. Escape: October 27-31 1962 Act IV. Squeeze: October 30 1962-November 20 1962 Postscript. Hope: December 10 1962-October 15 2010 Appendix A. The Armageddon Time Machine/Text: Acquiring the Letters Appendix B. The Armageddon Time Machine/Context: Bringing the Letters Back to Life Credits Endnotes Acknowledgments The Authors Index
