One Minute to Midnight cover art

One Minute to Midnight

Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War

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About this listen

 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.©2008 Michael Dobbs; (P)2008 Books on Tape 20th Century Military Modern Political Science Politics & Government Weapons & Warfare World Soviet Union War Russia Vietnam War Latin American Cold War Scary Espionage US Air Force Imperialism Nuclear War Imperial Japan Submarine Socialism Air Force Dwight Eisenhower
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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.

Dramatic

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A fascinating, if terrifying, account of how close the world came to the unthinkable. Superbly written, moves at pace and conveys the drama and danger at every step. Highly recommended.

Fantastic book and well read

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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.

Excellent

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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.

Armageddon averted by pure dumb luck?

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Great true story, well told. Good reading style, lots of reaserch. Good stuff methinks. Yes

Great.

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