Table of Contents
List of Illustrations xiii
Introduction xvii
A Timeline of Significant Global Events during the Cold War Era xxvii
Principal Participants in the Missile Crisis xxxv
Time Zones and Spellings xxxviii
Prologue: Operation Zapata 17-19 April 1961 1
1 Cuba Libre 23
1 The American Colony 23
2 Granma 35
3 The Liberator 45
2 Mother Russia 58
1 Triumph in Space, Hunger on Earth 58
2 'The Shark' 71
3 Khrushchev Abroad 84
3 Yanquis, Amerikantsy 99
1 American Pie 99
2 Jack 107
3 Nukes 119
4 The Red Gambit: Operation Anadyr 135
5 The Shock 174
6 Drumbeat 209
1 The President is Told 209
2 The Warmakers 222
7 'They Think We're Slightly Demented on This Subject' 234
1 Behind Closed Doors 234
2 'Iron Ass' 247
3 The Decision 253
8 The President Speaks 266
1 Kennedy Confronts his People 266
2 Khrushchev Confronts Disaster 285
9 Blockade 290
1 High, Confused Sea 290
2 'Shoot the Rudders Off!' 309
10 'The Other Fellow Just Blinked' 326
1 Hair Triggers 326
2 'Should I take out Cuba?' 330
11 Khrushchev Looks for an Out 343
1 'Everything to Prevent War' 343
2 The Kremlin Decision 352
3 'A Trial of Will' 364
12 Black Saturday 371
1 Castro Frightens Khrushchev 371
2 The Soviets Shoot 383
13 The Brink 390
1 Impasse 390
2 The Hounding of B-59 407
3 The Offer 413
14 Endgame 424
1 Time Runs Out 424
2 The Cubans Cut Up Rough 440
15 'This Strange and Still Scarcely Explicable Affair' 450
Acknowledgements 481
Notes and References 485
Bibliography 507
Index 515