Thirteen Days

Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert F Kennedy.

Paperback: 185 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (November 17, 1999)
ISBN-10: 0393318346

"A minor classic in its laconic, spare, compelling evocation by a participant of the shifting moods and maneuvers of the most dangerous moment in human history."—Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

During the thirteen days in October 1962 when the United States confronted the Soviet Union over its installation of missiles in Cuba, few people shared the behind-the-scenes story as it is told here by the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. In this unique account, he describes each of the participants during the sometimes hour-to-hour negotiations, with particular attention to the actions and views of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. In a new foreword, the distinguished historian and Kennedy adviser Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., discusses the book's enduring importance and the significance of new information about the crisis that has come to light, especially from the Soviet Union. 

For some time I have wanted to read more on the Cuban Missile Crisis.  After all I was old enough to remember it happening.  Mostly I remember that my brother was in the Air Force at the time stationed at the Azores, and I remember one evening especially, that my mother and I (and the world) was waiting to hear if we were going to war or not, knowing war would be nuclear and probably end most of our lives.

We were terrified.

Even knowing the decisions of President Kennedy were based on opinions of many, didn't help the stress and anxieties of  those of us who remember. 

I know there are much larger books that are written on the matter, but knowing how close the Kennedy's were and how they learned on each other, I wanted to read Bobby's view.   And many times he hit the nail right on the head.

When one reads books on history, I believe each of us learns something we didn't know before reading it.  So it was for me with Thirteen Days. 

No matter what others thought of Kennedy as President.. I was darn glad he was our President in 1962! 

This is a really good, short, account of that terrible time.  If you have an interest, but don't want to read a tome, this would be the book for you.