The world stood on the brink of world war iii and nuclear armageddon in october 1962 all it needed was a single push. Help identifying an alternative history novel 1 answer closed 2 years ago. The undisputed king of alternative histories is the prolific harry turtledove, who has helped. An international history of the cuban missile crisis. A wellwritten alternate history of the result of the cuban crisis going nuclear. The book amply covers the background to the cuban crisis although the novel resurrection day by brendan dubois provides a more substantial example of the result of this on a postus and elsewhere. The cuban missile crisis was a tense, day standoff between the leaders of the united states and soviet union. However, the official detente period didnt actually begin until years later when the first round of antinuclear proliferation.
Book about an alternate history where the cuban missile crisis. He purposes an alternate timeline for the cuban missile crisis. James has been studying military history, particularly world war ii, since 3rd grade. If war is at hand, kennedy thinks, those missiles must not leave the ground.
When efforts fail to resolve the standoff peacefully, us troops invade cuba and are bombarded with a tactical nuclear weapon. Alternate history is an orphan genre, abandoned by its true parent, history, and raised by science fiction in much the same way marxist guerrillas raise child. Our protagonist works in a world where the cuban missile crisis. A concise history, second edition, don munton and david a. Welch dispenses a brief and accessible historical narrative pertaining to the cuban missile crisis of 1962. By the book, it takes fifteen minutes to fire the thor from its horizontal. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the crisis, this revised and updated edition of the cuban missile crisis is ideal for undergraduate courses on the 1960s, u. In contemporary times, literary and cinematic interpretations of the cuban missile crisis have still excluded a cuban perspective in their material. Eyeball to eyeball an alternate cuban missile crisis series. The crisis was a defining moment in the presidency of john f. It was the closest the cold war had gotten to going nuclear. The estimated number of north american deaths was upwards of 200 million. Guide to alternate history literature amazing stories.
Global cuban missile crisis at 50 also worth noting, although not a book in the traditional sense, is a new edition of the cold war international history project bulletin edited by jim hershberg. His publications include numerous articles, six history books, four science fiction novels, and a historical mystery novel. In nuclear folly, serhii plokhy offers a harrowing account of the cuban missile crisis and how the u. Of course, had there been no cuban crisis, there would have been no.
Most of what you know about the cuban missile crisis is. Coming to comixology and hoopla digital from fanbase press in april 2021. He is the author of numerous books including when angels wept. In a littleknown alternate history book, brendan dubois throws you back to 1972, ten years after the cuban missile crisis turns into a full blown war between the united states and soviet union. Most of what you know about the cuban missile crisis is wrong. The post crisis removal of krushchev was the primary reason i introduced the moscow plotters into the tl. A whatif history of the cuban missile crisis earned the 2010 sidewise award for best alternate history novel. Indeed, on the fever chart of these fortyfive years. A whatif history of the cuban missile crisis, historian swedin posits a shocking apocalyptic vision in an alternate history retelling of the cuban missile crisis. In return, the us secretly agreed to remove their own missiles from turkey. It was the most dangerous episode of the cold war, but the world eventually stepped back from the brink of nuclear armageddon. New books on the cuban missile crisis the fourteenth day. Jfk library film paints grim alternate history of the.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. And, thus, on october 15th, 1962 the day ordeal that became known as the cuban missile crisis began. While the cuban missile crisis has been studied closely for decades, harvard historian serhii plokhiis latest book, nuclear folly. Kennedy demanded that all nuclear missiles be removed from cuba and blockaded the island to prevent further deliveries of nuclear warheads. The cuban missile war was the most devastating war in world history. Dr eric g swedin is an associate professor in the history department at weber state university in utah, usa. Sep 14, 2012 cold war international history project bulletin. Oct 16, 2012 its a grim alternate history of the cuban missile crisis. Jfk and the aftermath of the cuban missile crisis norton, 2012. Second holocaust had it not been for the downing of the u2, the cuban missile crisis of october 1962 might never have come about. Jun 22, 2008 any new entry in the crowded field of books on the 1962 cuban missile crisis must pass an immediate test. Won the 2010 sidewise award for best alternate history. Eisenhowers reluctant adventurism to use a favorite marxist word plunged us into the most dangerous period of the cold war. With the two superpowers teetering on the brink of war, and possibly a nuclear war at that, the issue of how to remove russian missiles from cuba in october 1962, while maintaining the.
Im often asked to recommend a good alternate history book, but you might. The day showdown brought the worlds two superpowers to the brink of nuclear war. The us and the soviet union found themselves in a political and military standoff in october 1962, over installation of soviet nuclear missiles on cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of florida. In united states historiography, the importance of cuba in the cuban missile crisis has been marginalized by the threat of soviet made military hardware in the western hemisphere. The authors draw on newly available documents to provide a comprehensive treatment of its causes, events, consequences, and significance.
September 25, 2015 eric swedin talks about his book when angels wept. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading eyeball to eyeball an alternate cuban missile crisis series book 1. May 02, 20 on october 14th, 1962, the u2 arrived back with pictures of these missiles sites. Written by the presidents brother from his unique personal perspective, this book offers insights which are not available in other accounts. A day later, the pictures were presented to president kennedy. Cuban missile crisis ussr launches alternative history. He has read 100s of articles and books on all manner of military history. Jfk library film paints grim alternate history of the cuban. In october of 1962, the us governments intel found nuclear missiles of the island of cuba which were an imminent threat to the safety of the southern united states. It is an alternate history where the cuban missile crisis escalated to a fullscale war, the soviet. As the most dangerous episode in the history of the cold war, the cuban missile crisis has inevitably attracted the attention of many diplomatic historians.
Crisis, which won the 2010 sidewise award in alternate history, and. This book was published in the last decade, probably in the last five years. It won the sidewise award for alternate history that year. In otl, krushchevs economic and agricultural reform failures backlit his percieved failure in the cuban missile crisis. An international history of the cuban missile crisis taylor. Here, as the situation escalates, that sense of percieved failure is going to be enormously high. Jfk library film paints grim alternate history of the cuban missile.
A whatif history of the cuban missile crisis potomac, 2010, as well as nine other books, and is an associate professor of history at. What if the cuban missile crisis escalated into a fullscale war. Ever wondered the time in that period that any moment during the cuban missile crisis in 1962 between october 16 to october 28th of 1962 would escalate into a nuclear war. Nov 09, 2020 one such book, resurrection day by brendan dubois takes up the cuban missile crisis. Eyeball to eyeball an alternate cuban missile crisis. Khrushchev was lookin political prestige and pow international communist in. Stern, worked as a historian at the kennedy library in boston from 1977 to 2000. This edited volume addresses the main lessons and legacies of the 1962 cuban missile crisis from a global perspective. The cuban missile crisis escalates into a nuclear war and 10 years later the us is still.
His doctorate is in the history of science and technology. So what would have happened if the cuban missile crisis had escalated. Jun 17, 2019 the cuban missile crisis was among the scariest events of the cold war. Nuclear power is a darkly poignant alt history of the cuban missile crisis that posits the lengths to which a government will go to protect or deceive its citizens. When efforts fail to resolve the standoff peacefully, us troops invade cuba and are. It is an alternate history where the cuban missile crisis escalated to a fullscale war, the soviet union is devastated, and the united states has been reduced to a thirdrate power, relying on the united kingdom for aid.
In one universe a few people survive in a timeline where the cuban missile crisis turned into fullscale war and the world was devastated. It includes many new documents relating to the crisis from international archives. Alternate history, long popular with fiction writers, has also been explored by historians and. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading eyeball to eyeball an alternate cuban missile crisis series book. Mar 07, 20 the new book is titled the cuban missile crisis in american memory.
Never before had there been such a high probability that so many lives would end suddenly. To survive this new atomic age, we must relearn the lessons of the most dangerous moment of the cold war. Apr, 2021 nearly thirty years after the end of the cold war, todays world leaders are abandoning disarmament treaties, building up nuclear arsenals, and exchanging threats of nuclear strikes. The story, if i remember correctly, takes place in the present meaning when the book was published. Kennedy is a concise and gripping first person narrative about a significant period in or countries history. This book tells the story of the cuban missile crisis in 1962, the struggle that president kennedy and his advisers including the author, who was head of intelligence at the state department went through to try to understand why the soviet union had put nuclear missiles in cuba, the alternative policies they debated to deal with the presence of the missiles, the aftermath of the crisis, and. Dubois delivers an alternatehistory thriller that deserves to be as popular as. Oct, 2012 even now, fresh history continues to blow holes in what we thought we knew. The fiftieth anniversary of the cuban missile crisis just passed and america justly. But before we delve into the alternate history of what if the cuban missile crisis escalated into a fullscale war. Another cuban missile crisis divergence, the story is written by an alternate version of the author who survived the global nuclear war.
Its a grim alternative history of the cuban missile crisis. Among others, he coauthored two books on the cuban missile crisis and nikita khrushchev. Mar 18, 2021 the day cuban missile crisis resolved with the soviet ships sailing away and the missiles withdrawn. Cuban missile crisis timeline ussr launches the alternate history story that i am creating surrounds the events of the cuban missile crisis. From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia redirected from the cuban missile crisis. Resurrection day is a novel written by brendan dubois in 1999. The history teacher volume 23 number 4 august 1990. A whatif history of the cuban missile crisis potomac books, 2010. Drawing on a range of soviet archival sources, including previously classified kgb documents, as well as white house tapes, plokhy offers an international perspective on the crisis, tracing the decisionmaking that. In 1962, the cuban missile crisis brought the united states and the soviet union.
An american spy plane eventually discovered the existence of missile sites off the coast of cuba, sparking what would come to be known as the cuban missile crisis. Eyeball to eyeball an alternate cuban missile crisis series book 1 kindle edition by niles, douglas. The cuban missile crisis stands as a seminal event. This vibrant fiction genre could be renamed what if books. Double, perhaps even quadruple that number of soviet, eastern european, and chinese citizens perished, and no one had any reliable data on how many western europeans, africans, asians, australians, and others were killed by the radioactive fallout as it. A whatif history of the cuban missile crisis, which won the 2010 sidewise award in alternate history, and survive the bomb. The cuban missile crisis at 55 national security archive. Is it just another recapitulation, or does it increase our net understanding of this. Drawing on a range of soviet archival sources, including previously classified kgb documents, as well as white house tapes, plokhy offers an international perspective on the crisis, tracing.
Oct 7 how the cuban missile crisis almost destroyed the world. Based on my understanding of the cold war, the cuban missile crisis was understandably a major contributor to the later u. Book about an alternate history where the cuban missile. The 2nd cuban missile crisis you didnt know about sandboxx.
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