Summary of Michael Dobbs' One Minute to Midnight

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The photos showed fields, forests, and winding country roads, and seemed innocuous. But they showed missile trailers, which could carry nuclear warheads, next to a launcher erector.

#2 The Cuban missile crisis began when Kennedy received an initial intelligence briefing. His national security adviser, McGeorge Bundy, knocked on the door of his bedroom, on the second floor of the White House, shortly after 8 a. m.

#3 When Kennedy learned that the Soviets were building missile bases on Cuba, he was enraged. He had been expecting a friendly visit from Khrushchev, not a hostile one. He decided to act as if nothing was amiss, and showed off his daughter Caroline’s pony Macaroni to the family of a returning astronaut.

#4 The Bay of Pigs was a disaster, and it reinforced Kennedy's impression of Khrushchev as a liar. He decided to step up U-2 reconnaissance of Cuba, and possibly launch an air strike on the missile sites.

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Release date

Ebook: 16 July 2022