The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis is reckoned to be one of the most perilous events in history, when the World faced a looming nuclear collision between the United States and Soviet Union. During those weeks, the world gazed into the abyss of potential annihilation.

I speak with Sir Max Hastings whose new history  Abyss: The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 tells the story from the viewpoints of national leaders, Russian officers, Cuban peasants, American pilots and British disarmers. The period is brought to life with eye-witness interviews, archive documents and diaries, White House tape recordings, and top-down analysis. More than purely a focus on the 13 days of the crisis, the book provides context through the Cold War experiences of Fidel Castro’s Cuba, Nikita Khrushchev’s Russia, and Kennedy’s America. 

Among the areas we discuss are how Cuba became a crisis, the failure of intelligence on both sides, and those nail-biting Thirteen Days in which Armageddon beckoned.

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0:00 Introduction and discussion on the Cuban missile crisis

7:35 Examination of the decision-making approaches during the Cuban Missile Crisis

15:07 Analysis of Jack Kennedy's political considerations and the missile gap myth

25:58 Comparison of Nikita Khrushchev's wisdom and Putin's actions in Ukraine

33:30 Analysis of fear's role in decision-making during the Cuban missile crisis

40:29 Discussion on the portrayal of military leaders in the Cold War

43:05 Exploration of communication failures and the impact of technology during crises

48:08 Cultural context and perspectives of the missile crisis era

52:10 Personal memories and humor in the face of the missile crisis

57:05 Conclusion and details about Max Hastings' book, "Abyss"

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