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One Minute to Midnight
- Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
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One Minute to Midnight
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Summary
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 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. 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.
Critic reviews
"One Minute to Midnight is nothing less than a tour de force, a dramatic, nail-biting page-turner that is also an important work of scholarship. Michael Dobbs combines the skills of an experienced investigative journalist, a talented writer, and an intelligent historical analyst. His research is stunning. No other history of the Cuban missile crisis matches this achievement." (Martin Sherwin, co-author of American Prometheus)
"[Dobbs] succeeds brilliantly, marshaling diverse sources to relate an intensely human story of Americans, Russians and Cubans caught up in what the late historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. termed 'the most dangerous moment in human history'...[Filled] with memorable characters in extraordinary circumstances and exotic settings...One Minute to Midnight evokes novelists like Alan Furst, John le Carré or Graham Greene." (James G. Hershberg, The Washington Post Book World)
"A book with sobering new information about the world's only superpower nuclear confrontation--as well as contemporary relevance...Filled with insights that will change the views of experts and help inform a new generation." (Richard Holbrooke, The New York Times Book Review)
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What listeners say about One Minute to Midnight
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- I. A. Clark
- 09-01-14
Armageddon averted by pure dumb luck?
Would you consider the audio edition of One Minute to Midnight to be better than the print version?
I haven't seen the print version. Audio editions are better for me to absorb, but worse to refer back to. It annoys me when names are wrongly pronounced: that's not a problem for a print edition.
What other book might you compare One Minute to Midnight to, and why?
I think of W S Churchill writing on the Second World War. Both authors are accomplished historians and draw on a vast store of facts, yet offer some fascinating anecdotes amusingly told. Both sum-up brilliantly and produce original, compelling analyses of the causes and results of their historical topic.
What about Bob Walter’s performance did you like?
The narrator pronounces Spanish names and quotations well, but Russian less confidently. His voice is pleasing and avoids sounding monotonous, which would be easy with so much detail to recount.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
In Dobbs's conclusions he quotes Jackie Kennedy writing personally to Nikita Kruschev after JFK's assassination: "You and he were adversaries, but you were allied in the determination that the world should not be blown up. The danger that troubled my husband was that the war might be started not so much by the big men as by the little ones." Apart from being a touching admission to a national enemy by a grieving widow, this gets to the heart of the matter. Together with the JFK quote "There's always some son-of-a-bitch that doesn't get the word!" it sums up the book's subject matter and findings.
Any additional comments?
In 1962 the two superpowers juggled with the future of humanity like Laurel and Hardy trying to negotiate a flight of steps with a grand piano. Secretary of State Dean Acheson later claimed nuclear war was averted "by pure dumb luck". But for all their miscalculations and personal failings, let's be grateful it was JFK and NK who led their respective countries and not any of their gung-ho advisors.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nik Jewell
- 16-05-18
Scary times
An enjoyable chronological narrative of 13 days directed at the non-specialist. If you have heard of the Cuban Missile Crisis, but don't know much about the detail, or were young or not yet born at the time, then you will certainly enjoy it and learn a great deal. As time goes on more and more material is declassified and the book is replete with the latest information at the time of writing, certainly on the US side; I expect there is more yet to be learnt from the Russian perspective.
Whilst packed with detail and fresh insights, like good narrative history it reads aa a thriller and sustains your attention. The events depicted were genuinely serious and scary and the clock has never since got so close to midnight.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kieran McCann
- 01-11-17
Thanks Dan
Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish with plenty of insight, flowing nicely & not getting bogged down . My first audio book, it was recommended on Dan Carlin podcast.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr James
- 17-04-15
Great.
Great true story, well told. Good reading style, lots of reaserch. Good stuff methinks. Yes
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Boo Boo
- 06-12-16
Excellent
I thought by this stage that there was little to learn about this historical event, but this book opened up new thoughts and information for me.
The analysis is excellent. The performance is very good and does not get in the way.
One of the best Audible books I have listened to this year.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dr. Proj
- 19-04-23
Excellent, balanced research and writing.
This is a great re-examination of a .Uchida studied event. in spite of all the research, Dobbs tells the story very well. You never get bored, and even knowing the outcome, you still feel the pressure of the time.
I really enjoyed this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Simon
- 23-12-12
Everything an audiobook should be
This audiobook makes absorbing history effortless. Like listening to a quality thriller, it draws you in and makes you feel like an insider to the events while maintaining the integrity of an authoritative piece of research. Highly recommended.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 31-01-17
great insight into a seminal event
couldnt stop listening, narration was superb, content was gripping, insight was enlightening. can only highly recommend this title
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. R. D. Cox
- 19-04-16
scary as hell, and lessons not learned
scary as hell, and lessons not learned
the crisis was far worse than I realised. why have lessons not been learned? Vietnam and The 2nd gulf war would not have happened
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr
- 11-07-14
Dramatic
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
At times, the juxtaposition of accounts from the American and Soviet sides makes this a very dramatic listen.
Any additional comments?
For a story which is already well-known, this is a brilliantly dramatic, enthralling telling of the wider history surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis, combining the American, Cuban and Soviet sides of the tale. Well worth downloading.
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1 person found this helpful