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Books : One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear WarIn association with Amazon.comRating:  - Your no JFKAs I was reading this book, the chilling thought constantly occurred to me: what would W (or Cheney) have done. The answer is to that question is what is so compelling about this book. Dobbs has some answers to this question in the afterword, which should not be skipped. Also, it turns out that Krushchev was pragmatic man who was unwilling to risk nuclear war for the glory of the USSR (Russia). Looks like maybe Putin is no Krushchev either. Rating: - "Some Sonfabitch Doesn't Get The WordThis 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. Rating: - Well-researched history in page-turner packagingDobbs book succeeds in three important ways: First, it uncovers many previously unknown facts about the Cuban missile crisis. Some of these facts should change the way we view the crisis and the lessons we draw from it. Second, the book shows how chaotic the event were, how little the actors knew, and how the crisis took on a life of its own. This is quite sobering and not a little scary. Third, Dobbs tells the well-researched story as a journalist would, skipping between Washington DC, Havana, and Moscow, and half-a-dozen other places. This makes the book a very exciting and enjoyable page-turner. Two thumbs up! Rating: - One Minute to MidnightMichael Dobbs gets you right into the Ex-Comm meetings with a dialog technique that makes you feel like a fly on the wall. He does this with Khruschev and Castro as well. As a naval aviator seving during the time frame of the crisis, some of the side stories made me feel like I was in the cockpit of one those RF-8's, U-2's or BUFF's. His descriptions were right on. I think I'll go back and read it again! Rating:  - UnblinkingIn his detailed research for what really happened in 1962, Michael Dobbs leaves few stones unturned and tries to tell the whole story. Unfortunately, this means that the story gets bogged down with too many details, some of the snippets don't contribute much to the overall narrative and much of the material is repetitive. What could have been a crisp drama stretches into a comprehensive documentary. But, while this book lacks drama, it certainly delivers a clear-eyed assessment of the players and the events. The author's conclusions are sound. In times of crisis, ordinary people who are minor players often have a profound impact on events. Kennedy and Khrushchev were both sane, sage and sober (fortunately). And, personality is pivotal in politics - character counts. |
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