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Abyss: The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

Abyss: The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

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  • Create Date：2022-11-12 03:41:31
  • Update Date：2025-09-24
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Max Hastings
  • ISBN：0008364990
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Summary

An extraordinary new account of the Cuban Missile Crisis and how it created some of the most dangerous， unstable years in world history – from the number one bestselling historian Max Hastings。

In the style of his bestselling history Vietnam， this book sees veteran war reporter and historian Max Hastings take on the Cuban Missile Crisis。 In these gripping， authoritative pages， Hastings tells the story of a war that seemed like a stalemate， and a threat that could have meant apocalypse。 Threaded together are close-up character portraits and big picture analysis， military collisions and accounts of the social， political forces that dictated decisions。

This is a new history for a new generation， putting fresh， international context on an astonishing military and political showdown。 In those throes of the Cold War， hundreds of millions of people around the world were， for some days， terrified that a nuclear holocaust was imminent。 Bringing together the threads of American bellicosity and Soviet brinksmanship， it becomes clear that while both sides eventually stepped away from destruction， that does not mean disaster was not terrifyingly close。

Casting new light on an epic clash of wills， this is the story of when the abyss beckoned。

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Reviews

James S。 ，

Not a terrible book， but not a great one。 Like most books on this topic， the author includes so much detail that the larger picture gets lost。 Sometimes it's not clear what the connection is between paragraphs。 Finally， the book is full of awkwardly phrased sentences like this one: That island， slightly smaller than Pennsylvania， provided the stage for Theodore Roosevelt to secure one of the fastest-earned military reputations in history， leading his volunteer 'Rough Riders' up San Juan Hill on Not a terrible book， but not a great one。 Like most books on this topic， the author includes so much detail that the larger picture gets lost。 Sometimes it's not clear what the connection is between paragraphs。 Finally， the book is full of awkwardly phrased sentences like this one: That island， slightly smaller than Pennsylvania， provided the stage for Theodore Roosevelt to secure one of the fastest-earned military reputations in history， leading his volunteer 'Rough Riders' up San Juan Hill on 1 July 1898 against Spanish colonialists， who in 1902 were compelled to cede Cuba's independence from themselves， though not from the United States。 。。。more

Mervyn Whyte ，

A typical Max Hastings book - strong narrative， informative， well-researched and displaying his usual pro-Western bias。 Unlike some other reviewers， I don't have a problem with the bias。 Although， some of his comments on Castro and Cuba stray occasionally from the cool， calm analysis that makes up most of the book and border on the downright rude。 Personally， they made me chuckle。 But it's bound to annoy some。 Anyway， like with his other books， this is an excellent starting point for the subject A typical Max Hastings book - strong narrative， informative， well-researched and displaying his usual pro-Western bias。 Unlike some other reviewers， I don't have a problem with the bias。 Although， some of his comments on Castro and Cuba stray occasionally from the cool， calm analysis that makes up most of the book and border on the downright rude。 Personally， they made me chuckle。 But it's bound to annoy some。 Anyway， like with his other books， this is an excellent starting point for the subject at hand。 Let's hope the Crisis remains the closest we've come to nuclear armageddon。 With all the miscalculations Putin is making in the Ukraine， that is no longer a given。 。。。more

Boudewijn ，

A definite account of the Cuban missile crisis， with some chilling lessons for todayIf you are familiar to the books of Max Hastings， you know that every book he writes is of outstanding quality。 This book is no exception to that rule and again， if you are familiar with Max Hastings， this book hardly needs further explanation。Between July and September 1962， Khrushchev secretly deployed a range of nuclear missiles in Cuba。 Together with those missiles， came the deployment of tens of thousands of A definite account of the Cuban missile crisis， with some chilling lessons for todayIf you are familiar to the books of Max Hastings， you know that every book he writes is of outstanding quality。 This book is no exception to that rule and again， if you are familiar with Max Hastings， this book hardly needs further explanation。Between July and September 1962， Khrushchev secretly deployed a range of nuclear missiles in Cuba。 Together with those missiles， came the deployment of tens of thousands of troops and bombers， SAM missiles and bombers。 Khrushchev mistakenly， and naively thought that the US would be facing a fait accompli once they were there and thought that Kennedy， in his eyes a green president， would back down。 After all， didn’t he mismanage the Bay of Pigs invasion just a year before？Hastings shows the dangerousness of the Cuba crisis。 After all， no side wanted nuclear war， so what was there to worry about？ Hastings shows nonetheless how close the world came to a nuclear disaster。 It shows how the hawks in the US government wanted to bomb Cuba right away， it showed how a trigger-happy Russian submarine commander could have started nuclear war， after he was attacked with practice depth charges by a US destroyer。Kennedy comes out as the one man who was able to talk sense in the matter， holding back his US armed forces’ chiefs of staff who were all to happy to teach the Soviets a lesson。 Khrushchev on the other hand， as an impulsive leader who didn’t think things through。 He realization of the many perils he created， that should have been apparent in the Kremlin from the fist moment they started the operation。 Castro managed to even surprise the Soviets with his obsession to maintain his own power and glory and his absence of fear of nuclear war unworthy of any human being， let alone the leader of 7 million Cubans。For me， born well after the events， I couldn’t comprehend the gravity of the events that hung over the world。 I remember my father telling me， after I told him I listened to this audiobook， that he remembered being in school， being taught on his lesson for the day， and was told by his schoolmaster at the end of that day that what they had learned perhaps was all for nothing， because the world could end within 12 days。 Experiencing the events， without the knowledge of what happened after， must have been a grueling experience， even for my father who was 16 at that time。Yet， this book has some chilling lessons 60 years later， with the crisis in Ukraine。 Relations between China， Russia and the US are as fractious as ever: the scope for an irreversible error or even a deliberate act remains。Fast forward to today， even I perhaps will tell my son one day that the events in Ukraine brought the world nearly to nuclear armageddon。 Let’s hope my son will never have to tell his son the same about some other future crisis。 。。。more

David Lowther ，

I was at school when the Cuban missile crisis blew up in 1962。 At the time it seemed simple。 The bad guys， Cuban and Russian， were arming Cuba with nuclear weapons。 The good guys， the USA， were trying to stop them。 Eventually， the US navy blockaded Cuba and Russian ships carrying nuclear weapons were sent packing。 Crisis over。 The world breathed a collective sigh of relief。But， of course， it wasn’t and Max Hastings enthralling book tells how the world almost ended sixty years ago。Hastings is one I was at school when the Cuban missile crisis blew up in 1962。 At the time it seemed simple。 The bad guys， Cuban and Russian， were arming Cuba with nuclear weapons。 The good guys， the USA， were trying to stop them。 Eventually， the US navy blockaded Cuba and Russian ships carrying nuclear weapons were sent packing。 Crisis over。 The world breathed a collective sigh of relief。But， of course， it wasn’t and Max Hastings enthralling book tells how the world almost ended sixty years ago。Hastings is one of the world’s leading military historians and in THE ABYSS he gives a blow by blow account of those dreadful days。 Hampered by being unable to visit important sites during the pandemic， the author has still created a diary of events which clearly demonstrated just how close the earth came to self-destruction in October 1962。 Had there been a pandemic just after the crisis in 1962， it would have been impossible to recreate the events a accurately because， of course， there was no internet。 But today there is and this has enabled Sir Max Hastings to write an account of those events from which governments the world over can learn a lesson so that’s those times when the world came close to incineration can never be repeated。David Lowther。 Author of The Blue Pencil， Liberating Belsen， Two Families at War and The Summer of ‘39， all published by Sacristy Press。 。。。more

Chad Manske ，

Eminent historian Max Hastings published this excellent re-look at the hottest era of the ~45 years of the Cold War during the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis。 In this 528-page tome we see in-depth discussions and behind the scenes discussions of what President Kennedy， Soviet Secretary Nikita Khrushchev， Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro and their advisors。 Contextually， Hastings builds each major storyline’s historical timeline in building up to the crisis to include the Cuban Rev Eminent historian Max Hastings published this excellent re-look at the hottest era of the ~45 years of the Cold War during the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis。 In this 528-page tome we see in-depth discussions and behind the scenes discussions of what President Kennedy， Soviet Secretary Nikita Khrushchev， Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro and their advisors。 Contextually， Hastings builds each major storyline’s historical timeline in building up to the crisis to include the Cuban Revolution （great history！）; race relations/missile gap and the tussle between the the politicos and military brass in the US; and in the USSR， the paranoia and deception of trying to match US capability but falling short。 The tensions and heightened fears manifest as the U。S。 shipping quarantine is established， culminating when the Soviets ‘blinked。’ The timing of this volume is perfect and the application and lessons of a current day Cold War should be studied closely。 A great read！ 。。。more

Scott Martin ，

（Audiobook） A solid overview of the Cuban Missile Crisis from a British author， so not someone with a vested interest in keeping either America， Russia or Cuba happy。 He seeks to keep it so that the regular person can read it， but being a Hastings work， it is long and detailed。 Still， there is much to learn and gleam from this work。 Perhaps so many things could have changed， from Castro getting his way to publicize the Soviet deployment of missiles for defense， forcing America to have to accept （Audiobook） A solid overview of the Cuban Missile Crisis from a British author， so not someone with a vested interest in keeping either America， Russia or Cuba happy。 He seeks to keep it so that the regular person can read it， but being a Hastings work， it is long and detailed。 Still， there is much to learn and gleam from this work。 Perhaps so many things could have changed， from Castro getting his way to publicize the Soviet deployment of missiles for defense， forcing America to have to accept the deployment， to major miscalculations between the USSR and USA that might have lead to the nightmare scenario。 Given the events in Ukraine in 2022， Hastings manages to tie in the events of now to highlight the lessons of 60 years prior。 Do we learn from it？ Given the worst case， one would hope so。 。。。more

Chris Kovacs ，

Unfortunate book by Sir Max HastingsUsually a real fan of his workThere is nothing new or nuanced in his narrative or analysisSlobbering infatuation with Jack KennedyUS military are nothing but blood thirsty killersCastro and the cubans are just freedom loving revolutionariesSoviets are blundering idiotsAll would be well if we would just follow the British approach to diplomacy This really seemed like a book put out to make money off the anniversary If want to read something with some solid anal Unfortunate book by Sir Max HastingsUsually a real fan of his workThere is nothing new or nuanced in his narrative or analysisSlobbering infatuation with Jack KennedyUS military are nothing but blood thirsty killersCastro and the cubans are just freedom loving revolutionariesSoviets are blundering idiotsAll would be well if we would just follow the British approach to diplomacy This really seemed like a book put out to make money off the anniversary If want to read something with some solid analysis and a fresher prospective would recommend Nuclear Folly published this yearAs I said， usually a big fan， but this was definitely not his best work 。。。more

Nick Harriss ，

I loved this book。 I am a fan of the author， but found his recent book on the Vietnam War a bit meandering; this however Hastings back to his best。 Just the right balance between detail and pace， background， context and first-hand accounts。 While I had a good understanding on the subject already， including reading other books on the era recently， this brought a much greater level of understanding。 Well recommended。

Colin ，

This is an excellent narrative account of the Cuban Missile Crisis。 It is written in Max Hastings' usual style， with a clear， comprehensive account of events， using sources from all angles， and with shrewd judgments。 I especially like the way in which Hastings considers the Cuban perspective， and how out-of-sync Castro was with both the USSR and the USA in the resolution of the crisis。 The book concludes with some well-made points about the parallels with today's multiple global crises， especial This is an excellent narrative account of the Cuban Missile Crisis。 It is written in Max Hastings' usual style， with a clear， comprehensive account of events， using sources from all angles， and with shrewd judgments。 I especially like the way in which Hastings considers the Cuban perspective， and how out-of-sync Castro was with both the USSR and the USA in the resolution of the crisis。 The book concludes with some well-made points about the parallels with today's multiple global crises， especially the conduct of the current leader of the Russian Federation。 I highly recommend this book。 。。。more

Paul Gelman ，

A brilliant book about the most dangerous period of time in the Cold War， written by a master historian and storyteller， encompassing almost all the possible points of view regarding these unfortunate and dark times。 This is a must read for anyone who would like to see how vulnerable our existence on this planet can be， especially when the fate of hundreds of millions of people depends on the sanity or insanity of some leaders。 Highly recommended and relevant these days ，when a madman called Put A brilliant book about the most dangerous period of time in the Cold War， written by a master historian and storyteller， encompassing almost all the possible points of view regarding these unfortunate and dark times。 This is a must read for anyone who would like to see how vulnerable our existence on this planet can be， especially when the fate of hundreds of millions of people depends on the sanity or insanity of some leaders。 Highly recommended and relevant these days ，when a madman called Putin can unleash the most horrible weapons mankind knows:the atomic bomb。 。。。more

Robert Webber ，

This book is a very well crafted and literate account of one of the defining and most frightening events of the twentieth century when， in October 1962， the World stood on the brink of a nuclear holocaust。 It draws heavily on the recordings of discussions between President Kennedy and his military and civilian advisors during the crisis。 Thus we gain an insight into the frightening problems they faced as if in ‘real time’ although， as Hastings observes， we can hear what they say but we cannot kn This book is a very well crafted and literate account of one of the defining and most frightening events of the twentieth century when， in October 1962， the World stood on the brink of a nuclear holocaust。 It draws heavily on the recordings of discussions between President Kennedy and his military and civilian advisors during the crisis。 Thus we gain an insight into the frightening problems they faced as if in ‘real time’ although， as Hastings observes， we can hear what they say but we cannot know what they were actually thinking。 The records of the Soviet discussions are more sparse but clearly， Khrushchev recognised quickly that his rash and hastily decided gamble had backfired spectacularly and he realised that he had to find a way of backing down in the least humiliating fashion。 Sadly for the World at large， this angry， bellicose and deeply resentful man took the crisis to the very edge of a cataclysmic inferno before accepting the necessity to retreat。Kennedy had many， by now， well known and copiously documented faults。His willingness however， to refrain from the lethal and precipitate action pressed so hard upon him by his military advisors while he pursued a diplomatic solution， I believe， represents his ‘finest hour’。 It is a strange paradox that so many of the men who performed so well during this crisis exercising cool nerves and sound judgement such as McNamara， Rusk， Bundy etc would be abandon such qualities and have their reputations destroyed and swallowed up by the quagmire of the Vietnam war just a few short years later。The book raises some profound questions。 Did the placing of strategic nuclear missiles on Cuba a few miles from the American mainland really alter the balance of power in the Western Hemisphere？ Europe had been living with a Soviet led Armageddon on its doorstep for years and in any event， submarines equipped with nuclear missiles parked in the Atlantic would offer an even greater， less easily detectable threat than Cuba。 Also， the stark contrast between the enormous destructive power of the weaponry involved and the frighteningly slow and primitive means of communication available to the Americans and the Soviets。When it fully dawned upon the Soviets that they must back down， their reaction appears panicked and utterly confused。 Was their objective to safeguard the Cuban revolution or to alter the balance of nuclear strike capability in their favour given the vast superiority of American weaponry at this time？ At one point it was suggested that the missiles be transferred to the Cubans in order to reduce tensions。 Anastas Mikoyan， a wiser head， realising by now that in Fidel Castro the Soviets had shackled themselves to a cruel， vain， unstable and irrational despot who was desperate to retain his own grip on power， suggested that such a move would have the directly opposite effect。In my opinion， this is absorbing account off a pivotal moment in history which provides the background to the decision to install in secret， strategic nuclear weapons on Cuba， the personalities involved， the decision making processes of each side， the implications for the future and its resonance to the present day。 A superb read。 Recommended。 。。。more

Reference

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