Share <Embed>

Buy New

$14.48

List Price: $28.95
Save: $14.47 (50%)

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by chess72 and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

This item ships to France. Want it Monday, Dec. 18? Order within and choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

Ship to:

France

Buy Used

$7.00

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by BooksOrDvds

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$12.95
+ Free Shipping

Sold by: gamesters3

Add to Cart

$14.48
& FREE Shipping on eligible orders. Details

Sold by: RE Solutions Services llc

Add to Cart

$14.49
& FREE Shipping on eligible orders. Details

Sold by: Reedsom Books

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War Hardcover – Deckle Edge, June 3, 2008

by Michael Dobbs (Author)

160 customer reviews

See all 27 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$11.76

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$23.99

$22.11

Hardcover, Deckle Edge, June 3, 2008

$14.48

$12.94

$2.88

Paperback

"Please retry"

$12.85

$7.99

$4.29

Audible, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Audio CD

"Please retry"

—

$45.71

Unknown Binding

"Please retry"

—

$35.77

$18.79

Arrives before Christmas. Choose delivery option in checkout.

In October 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be sliding inexorably toward a nuclear conflict over the placement of missiles in Cuba. Veteran Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs has pored over previously untapped American, Soviet, and Cuban sources to produce the most authoritative book yet on the Cuban missile crisis. In his hour-by-hour chronicle of those near-fatal days, Dobbs reveals some startling new incidents that illustrate how close we came to Armageddon.

Here, for the first time, are gripping accounts of Khrushchev’s plan to destroy the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo; the accidental overflight of the Soviet Union by an American spy plane; the movement of Soviet nuclear warheads around Cuba during the tensest days of the crisis; the activities of CIA agents inside Cuba; and the crash landing of an American F-106 jet with a live nuclear weapon on board.

Dobbs takes us inside the White House and the Kremlin as Kennedy and Khrushchev—rational, intelligent men separated by an ocean of ideological suspicion—agonize over the possibility of war. He shows how these two leaders recognized the terrifying realities of the nuclear age while Castro—never swayed by conventional political considerations—demonstrated the messianic ambition of a man selected by history for a unique mission. As the story unfolds, Dobbs brings us onto the decks of American ships patrolling Cuba; inside sweltering Soviet submarines and missile units as they ready their warheads; and onto the streets of Miami, where anti-Castro exiles plot the dictator’s overthrow.

Based on exhaustive new research and told in breathtaking prose, here is a riveting account of history’s most dangerous hours, full of lessons for our time.

One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War [Deckle Edge]

$14.48 Only 1 left in stock - order soon. Sold by chess72 and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $24.95

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War by Michael Dobbs Hardcover $14.48
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by chess72 and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert F. Kennedy Paperback $10.47
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Robert F. Kennedy

136

Hardcover
50 offers from $6.71
Robert F. Kennedy

136

Paperback
$10.47
Michael Dobbs

40

Hardcover
37 offers from $2.49
Joseph S. Nye Jr.

26

Paperback
75 offers from $10.10
Jim Rasenberger

70

Hardcover
$10.87
David McCullough

1,690

Hardcover
$12.71

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Washington Post reporter Dobbs (Saboteurs) is a master at telling stories as they unfold and from a variety of perspectives. In this re-examination of the 1963 Bay of Pigs face-off between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., Dobbs combines visits to Cuba, discussions with Russian participants and fingertip command of archival and printed U.S. sources to describe a wild ride that—contrary to the myth of Kennedy's steel-nerved crisis management—was shaped by improvisation, guesswork and blind luck. Dobbs's protagonists act not out of malevolence, incompetence or machismo. Kennedy, Khrushchev and their advisers emerge as men desperately seeking a handle on a situation no one wanted and no one could resolve. In a densely packed, fast-paced, suspenseful narrative, Dobbs presents the crisis from its early stages through the decision to blockade Cuba and Kennedy's ordering of DEFCON 2, the last step before an attack, to the final resolution on October 27 and 28. The work's climax is a detailed reconstruction of the dry-mouthed, sweaty-armpits environment of those final hours before both sides backed down. From first to last, this sustains Dobbs's case that crisis management is a contradiction in terms. (June 5)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The 1962 Cuban missile crisis is probably the single most analyzed episode of the cold war. In the past decade, declassified American and Russian documents have proved that a nuclear exchange was even closer than most scholars had previously realized. Dobbs, a reporter for the Washington Post, has used those sources as well as numerous new ones gleaned from two years of research in the U.S., Cuba, and Russia. Although nothing presented here will change the overall view of the crisis, 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. 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. This is a well-written effort to explain and understand our closest brush with nuclear war. --Jay Freeman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Hardcover: 426 pages
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (June 3, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400043581
ISBN-13: 978-1400043583
Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.7 x 9.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 160 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,075,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #294 in Books > History > Americas > Caribbean & West Indies > Cuba
- #2657 in Books > History > Asia > Russia
- #51053 in Books > History > Americas > United States

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Customer reviews

Write a customer review

See all 160 customer reviews

Rated by customers interested in

What's this?

Asian History

5.0 out of 5 stars

Politics & Government Books

5.0 out of 5 stars

Mystery Books

4.3 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

"Some Sonfabitch Doesn't Get The Word

October 30, 2008

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book is an excellent piece of historical writing, well-documented and well-illustrated with pertinent maps and photographs. The author relies upon recently accessable material from Soviet and American archives, as well as interviews with personnel in America and Russia. Until Cuban archives are open, this work will be the last word on the topic. Most popular accounts seem to have been based on the "Excomm Tapes"; but these are replete with inaccuracies amd can be misleading. To be useful, they must be backed up with documentray sources. Without them, they can only be used to show the attitudes of the speakers. Alone they are not reliable for historical fact. Much of the earliest writing on the topic is from the "Canonical School of the Kennedys"; this analysis is well-balanced and gives JFK his fair due.

The title of this review is a quote from JFK that is somewhat similar to what Clausewitz described more eligently as "Operational Friction"; how in any compex military operation things start going awry. In the age of nuclear weapons it is even more dangerous. The chance for an accidental nuclear release were so numerous ("People you wouldn't trust with a loaded 22 rifle were flying around in single-seat aircraft with control over their nuclear weapons" as one speaker says) The "Afterwood" chapter is excellent with insights and is very useful to use as a classroom reading assignment.

0Comment 10 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Dave Schan

always nice to have the facts

November 9, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The Cuban Missile Crisis has lived in folklore for 50 years. Largely with the availability of declassified documents and considerable investigation, Dobbs presents the struggles of Kennedy and Kruschev in living color. We forget today how more limited communication systems and information gathering systems of the day led to erroneous conclusions. Ultimately, cooler heads and a bit of luck won out for all of our benefits.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

The Cuban Missile Crisis -- Even Scarier Than I Remember

January 4, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Some reviewers may fault the book for not being written in an exciting enough style, but for those of us old enough to remember living through the Cuban missile crisis, this was spine tingling stuff. I found it hard to put the book down. With unprecedented access to Russian and American sources, Dobbs shows how we came even closer to nuclear war than the public in its worst fears imagined at the time. He blows up many of the myths that have surrounded the crisis and replaces them with even scarier realities, including the presence of battlefield nuclear weapons under the control of poorly informed junior officers rather than senior commanders and political leaders. He lays out many of the mistakes and misunderstandings that could have easily led to the destruction of US coast cities and most of the USSR, to say nothing about the likely incineration of Cuba itself. And, finally, he shows what the unintended consequences were of decisions made during the crisis, from the war in Vietnam to the situation in Cuba today. At the end, Dobbs notes that there are still many documents on the crisis yet to be released in the US, Russia and Cuba, promising even more (and possibly more chilling) revelations by future historians.

0Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Steven M. AnthonyTop Contributor: Science Fiction Books

Frightening Minute by Minute Account of Impending Disaster

May 25, 2009

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I was born in 1961, so was only a small child when the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred. I was only passingly familiar with both the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Missile Crisis prior to reading this book and therefore learned many new and interesting facts. After reading this account, I can only say that it must have been terrifying to have lived through the Crisis, the more you knew, the more frightening it must have been. The world was literally on the door step of a large scale nuclear exchange.

Kennedy was a young, inexperienced President, fresh off the Bay of Pigs disaster and having been completely dominated by Khrushchev at their summit in Vienna. He was surrounded by an eclectic crew of advisors, from those equally as naïve and inexperienced as himself (namely his brother Bobby), egghead bureaucrats (such as Robert McNamara) and aging Cold Warriors (LeMay) who were eager for a showdown with the Soviets.

Most troubling was the "chain of command" and delegation of authority as a result of which the lowest level bureaucrat or member of the armed forces (on either side) could have triggered a sequence of events leading to ultimate launching of missiles. When a national leader such as Castro and top level U. S. military advisors can be so adamantly in favor of a nuclear exchange, it certainly causes one to reflect upon our current world situation in which unstable democracies such as Pakistan and aspiring nuclear club members such as the theocracy governing Iran and the dysfunctional regime in Pyongyang virtually hold the world hostage through their possession of nuclear material and the devices to deliver them.

This book should be required reading for anyone aspiring to leadership of a "nuclear club" member, and anyone dealing with such a member. After reading this book, and reflecting upon the impending nuclear proliferation, I must admit to a high degree of pessimism as it relates to the world's ability to avoid a nuclear exchange.

0Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Customer images

See all customer images

Most recent customer reviews

William Conrad

This book was scary, exciting and very informative

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a scary time. I knew it was much worse then the public knew at the time, but I was unaware of how bad it actually was.Read more

Published 1 day ago

James W. Barnes

Alarming Read

Especially relevant give the dust up with N. Korea

Published 1 month ago

Judy Bresnan

Seriously great tead

Lived through the Cuban Missile crisis & my husband was on the Independence. I had no idea how involved & serious the situation was! Great read & thankful for our leaders.

Published 2 months ago

David Wilkerson

Five Stars

I lov

Published 2 months ago

Maurice & Joan Chasse

Wow, What a book

Even though I lived thru that era I did not know 95% of what I read in this book. What an eye opener. I knew that there was more but l did not care to know all the details.Read more

Published 2 months ago

Robert

Five Stars

Absolutely perfect . Thank you

Published 2 months ago

Melissa

Five Stars

Great book!

Published 2 months ago

Kindle Customer Joe

Tough read

Not as good as the Churchill series took me a very long time to get through , not to my taste

Published 3 months ago

James Bredfeldt

How cooler heads prevailed!

This is an outstanding story about the Cuban missile crisis. This is real life reporting and a novel could not replicate the actual and potential terror of how this story was...Read more

Published 3 months ago

Death to Smoochie

A great, updated analysis of a very scary time

This book leveraged items that have been declassified since 13 Days... was written. With that comes additional detail from the (former) Soviet side.Read more

Published 4 months ago

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War

Set up a giveaway

Buy New

$14.48

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

or

or

Buy Used

$7.00

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Other Sellers on Amazon

One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War Hardcover – Deckle Edge, June 3, 2008

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From Booklist

Product details

Customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Customer images

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Buy New $14.48

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

or

or

Buy Used $7.00

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Other Sellers on Amazon

One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War Hardcover – Deckle Edge, June 3, 2008

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From Booklist

Product details

Customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Customer images

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Buy New

$14.48

Buy Used

$7.00