. Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, this book pulls you in immediately and holds you tight until the end. In this hour-by-hour chronicle of those tense days, veteran Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs reveals just how close we came to Armageddon. I was born in '69, so missed this period of history, but knew a little about it. One Minute to Midnight is nothing less than a tour de force, a dramatic, nail-biting page-turner that is also an important work of scholarship. The president asked the obvious question: when would the missiles be ready to fire? Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2019. The author is right that we were going to be the first on the ground if hostilities had begun. This and "13 Days In October" should be (but never will be) mandatory reading for every high school student of American History. He finally found the love of his life…150 years after his death. Michael Dobbs combines the skills of an experienced investigative journalist, a talented writer, and an intelligent historical analyst. In One Minute to Midnight Michael Dobbs brings a fresh perspective to this crucial moment in twentieth-century history. I would suggest this is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the history of the twentieth century, let alone the Cold War. . Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Fortunately by the end of that day Kennedy was turning things around. His research is stunning. This book comprehensively examines how the erstwhile Allies divided Berlin after World War II and set the stage for the Cold War and the Berlin Wall. Most of us guessed it we would be going after the missile sites. Please choose a different delivery location or purchase from another seller. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions. Dobbs is an impeccable researcher and reporter.” —, "Extraordinary. As a reporter for The Washington Post and a foreign correspondent having covered the collapse of communism, Dobbs’s careful attention to detail and knowledge of this event is evident throughout the book. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. It is first rate great history and a great read! "Extraordinary. It's a real telling, top to bottom, of this event and makes you appreciate the perspective of leaders who had seen and experienced the total war of WW2 and didn't want to see it replicated but with nuclear weapons. These promotions will be applied to this item: Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. The first edition of the novel was published in January 1st 2008, and was written by Michael Dobbs. Anyone reading One Minute to Midnight will quickly realize that we did need another—and that this is it. . The secret was buried in three black-and-white photographs pasted to briefing boards hidden in a large black case. A significant contribution to our understanding of that perilous autumn. Excellent book - highly, highly recommended. Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, the son of nurseryman Eric and Eileen Dobbs. I was born in '69, so missed this period of history, but knew a little about it. Leading figures seriously wondered whether they would live to see another dawn. Just how close we came to a nuclear exchange, on numerous occasions, is truly frightening. [Filled] with memorable characters in extraordinary circumstances and exotic settings . Written like a thriller, One Minute to Midnight is an exhaustively researched account of what Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. called “the most dangerous moment in human history,” and the definitive book on the Cuban missile crisis. Taiwan's Former Nuclear Weapons Program: Nuclear Weapons On-Demand, Peaky Blinders: A History from Beginning to End. Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, this book pulls you in immediately and holds you tight until the end. —The Christian Science Monitor"A book with sobering new information about the world's only superpower nuclear confrontation—as well as contemporary relevance . Most of us guessed it we would be going after the missile sites. Please try again. The NCOs were mum about our objective, but one told me it would be happening within 24-48 hours. Arthur Lundahl held a pointer in his hand, ready to reveal a secret that would bring the world to the edge of nuclear war. These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. In October 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union came to … "One Hell of a Gamble": Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-1964, Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Six Months in 1945: FDR, Stalin, Churchill, and Truman--from World War to Cold War, Down with Big Brother: The Fall of the Soviet Empire, The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba's Bay of Pigs, Above and Beyond: John F. Kennedy and America's Most Dangerous Cold War Spy Mission, The Cuban Missile Crisis: A History From Beginning to End, “Extraordinary. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. The president smiled. John F. Kennedy would later remark that the site could be mistaken for “a football field.” After examining the photographs earlier that morning, his brother Bobby had been unable to make out anything more than “the clearing of a field for a farm or the basement of a house.” To help the president understand the significance of the photos, Lundahl had labeled them with arrows pointing to the dots and blotches, along with captions reading “ERECTOR LAUNCHER EQUIPMENT,” “MISSILE TRAILERS,” and “TENT AREAS.” He was about to display the briefing boards when there was a commotion outside the door. Thanks to them, humanity survived and we are able to read this book. It gave me a great understanding of what was happening around me during those thirteen days. Also by Michael Dobbs See all books by Michael Dobbs Also by Michael Dobbs It is hard for those of us born after this time (the 50th anniversary of which is almost upon us) to understand how close the world came to nuclear destruction, especially on so called Black Saturday, 27 October 1962. The Soviet Union: The History and Legacy of the USSR from World War I to the End of... President Kennedy Fights the Cold War: The Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missi... Battle of Okinawa - World War II: A History from Beginning to End (World War 2 Batt... Toltec Civilization: A History from Beginning to End (Mesoamerican History Book 4). . Michael Dobbs combines the skills of an experienced investigative journalist, a talented writer, and an … External links. There's a problem loading this menu right now. The experts were unsure. “The length, sir.” “The what? Please try your request again later. Login: Password Submit; Registration Forgot password? "—The Philadelphia Inquirer"Gripping. --This text refers to an alternate, Michael Dobbs was born in Belfast, Ireland, and educated at the University of York, with fellowships at Princeton and Harvard. But don't have the time or patience for a 400-page book? “How do you know this is a medium-range ballistic missile?” asked the president. The events are presented chronologically, which gives us a minute-by-minute account, and therefore it reads like a thriller. All the key characters in the book are well-drawn. I remember our platoon sergeant casually telling us that the explosives that would be dropped with us would have a different colored streamer for each company, but we should take any we find because other companies would be taking ours. "—Sergei Khrushchev"Is there anything new left to be said about the 1962 missile crisis? Once armed and ready to fire, they could explode over Washington in thirteen minutes, turning the capital into a scorched wasteland. By Michael Dobbs. The basis for the award winning movie, Dr. Strangelove. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-1964: The Secret History of the Cuban…, Nuclear Weapons & Warfare History (Books), © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Written like a thriller, One Minute to Midnight is an exhaustively researched account of what Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. called “the most dangerous moment in human history,” and the definitive book on the Cuban missile crisis. Available in used condition with free delivery in the US. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. "—Martin Sherwin, coauthor of American Prometheus"At a time of danger for a nation it is important for political leaders first to think, then to think more and try avoid shooting. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. "—Kirkus Reviews"Dobbs presents new and often startling information that again confirms that the 'thirteen days in October' brought the world to the edge of an unprecedented cataclysm. His research is … There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. Both Kennedy and Khrushchov were held back more generally by the mad logic of nuclear deterrence and international diplomacy which permitted no admission of weakness or public backing down. "—Booklist"First-rate . In secrecy, while insisting they would never contemplate such a thing, the Soviet leaders had installed surface-to-surface nuclear missiles on Cuba, less than a hundred miles from American shores. He is a reporter for. Do you want to learn about the Peaky Blinders? Previous page of related Sponsored Products. His research is stunning. No other history of the Cuban missile crisis matches this achievement. True story of the men and women who struggled to prevent mass murder and disaster at a US Air Force base—and their heroic response to both tragedies. There's a problem loading this menu right now. "—Bloomberg News"[Dobbs] succeeds brilliantly, marshaling diverse sources to relate an intensely human story of Americans, Russians and Cubans caught up in what the late historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. termed 'the most dangerous moment in human history' . Lundahl took the briefing boards out of his bag and laid them on the table. . It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Additional gift options are available when buying one eBook at a time. Both had seen warfare at first hand and were ultimately determined that they would not destroy future generations by allowing nuclear weapons to be used first by their respective countries and thereby condemn the rest of the world as well as their opponents. “One Minute to Midnight is nothing less than a tour de force, a dramatic, nail-biting page-turner that is also an important work of scholarship. The length?” “The length of it, yes.” CIA experts had spent the last thirty-six hours poring over thousands of reconnaissance photographs of the hills and valleys of western Cuba. . American History Magazine“One Minute to Midnight is nothing less than a tour de force, a dramatic, nail-biting page-turner that is also an important work of scholarship. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. That would depend on how soon the missiles could be mated with their nuclear warheads. Here, for the first time, are gripping accounts of Khrushchev's plan to destroy the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo; the handling of Soviet nuclear warheads on Cuba; and the extraordinary story of a U-2 spy plane that got lost over Russia at the peak of the crisis. In One Minute to Midnight Michael Dobbs brings a fresh perspective to this crucial moment in twentieth-century history. "—American History Magazine"One Minute to Midnight is nothing less than a tour de force, a dramatic, nail-biting page-turner that is also an important work of scholarship. "—Richard Holbrooke, The New York Times Book Review"Riveting and highly informative, One Minute to Midnight portrays the intense human drama of mankind on the brink of an unthinkable war. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Written like a thriller, One Minute to Midnight is an exhaustively researched account of what Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. called “the most dangerous moment in human history,” and the definitive book on the Cuban missile crisis. On superficial inspection, the grainy images of fields, forests, and winding country roads seemed innocuous, almost bucolic. . Detailed, Well Researched and Very Interesting, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2019. “Caroline, have you been eating candy?” No reply. That an American U-2 strayed over the Soviet Union during the crisis has been known all along, but Dobbs gives us the first full account of what happened. In One Minute to Midnight, Michael Dobbs, a seasoned investigative reporter and foreign correspondent with the Washington Post, provides a hour-by-hour account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This book details the crises that President Kennedy dealt with over Cuba in the early years of his presidency, and how they impacted the Cold War. The tubes turned out to be sixty-seven feet long. Filled with insights that will change the views of experts and help inform a new generation." The author is right that we were going to be the first on the ground if hostilities had begun. Here, for the first time, are gripping accounts of Khrushchev's plan to destroy the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo; the handling of Soviet nuclear warheads on Cuba; and the extraordinary story of a U-2 spy plane that got lost over Russia at the peak of the crisis. There have been several iterations of the "Missile Crisis" story. His research is stunning. If the warheads were present, one would expect to see some kind of secure storage facility at the missile sites, but nothing was visible.“There is. Facing him across the table were his brother, his vice president, and his national security adviser. What emerges clearly, despite their faults and weaknesses, is the essential humanity and statesmanship of both Jack Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchov. It's frightening to realize that it's a work of history and not fiction. Never did I know how very close we came to nuclear war and how fully deployed our nuclear arsenal was. Schlesinger, Bobby Kennedy, and others gave us an initial - and limited - look into the crisis through US eyes. by Michael Dobbs Author of The New York Times best-seller, One Minute to Midnight "Vulnerable, melancholy, paranoid and vengeful...an indelible study of a political antihero" - … His voice was clipped and tense, betraying a boiling anger beneath the calm. One Minute To Midnight Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War. One Minute to Midnight evokes novelists like Alan Furst, John le Carré or Graham Greene. Dobbs spends little time describing the characters of the key players, but he does convey a sense of men under immense stress as events threaten to outstrip their ability to cope with them. The Central Intelligence Agency’s chief photo interpreter hovered over the president’s shoulder. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Michael Dobbs combines the skills of an experienced investigative journalist, a talented writer and an intelligent historical analyst. So far, there was no evidence to suggest that the Soviets had moved the warheads to the missile sites. The Comprehensive Telling of the Missiles of October, Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2018. ISBN: 9780091796662. . Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2018, This account is very well researched ,judging by the numerous references and acknowledgements which take up nearly 20% of the length of the book.But for all that its fast paced and very readable ,and in my view captures the drama and the incredible dilemma that two sane leaders and their respective teams had to steer through madness and the minefield of the cold war politics of the time, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 18, 2016. Generation. instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the bought... Intelligent historical analyst book 1 ) a couple of hours Michigan, and was written by Michael Dobbs combines skills. 'S frightening to realize that we did need another—and that this item violates a copyright missile?. Power from Truman to Trump nuclear warheads research is … Michael Dobbs brings a fresh to. 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