Drawing on revealing new research, this richly informative volume is the definitive concise introduction to the crisis that took the world to the brink of nuclear war.Cuban Missile Crisis: The Essential Reference Guide captures the historical context, the minute-by-minute drama, and the profound repercussions of the "Missiles of October" confrontation that brought the very real threat of nuclear attack to the United States' doorstep. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the crisis, it takes full advantage of recently opened Soviet archives as well as interviews with key Russian, Cuban, and U.S. officials to explore the event as it played out in Moscow, Havana, Washington, and other locations around the world.Cuban Missile Crisis contains an introductory essay by the author and alphabetically organized reference entries contributed by leading Cold War researchers. The book also includes an exceptionally comprehensive bibliography. Together, these resources give readers everything they need to understand the escalating tensions that led to the crisis as well as the intense diplomacy that resolved it, including new information about the back-channel negotiations between Robert Kennedy and Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin.

On October 14, 1962, a U.S. reconnaissance flight provided the final, definitive proof that the Soviet Union was attempting to build missile bases in Cuba. The ensuing crisis was one of the defining moments of the Cold War, and likely the closest the world has ever come to all-out nuclear annihilation.

List of EntriesIntroductionEntriesPrimary Documents1. President John F. Kennedy, Report to the American People on the Soviet Arms Buildup in Cuba, October 22, 19622. Kennedy-Khrushchev Exchanges during the Cuban Missile Crisis, October 22-28, 19623. Meeting between U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, October 27, 19624. Meeting between U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, October 28, 19625. Chairman Nikita Khrushchev to President John F. Kennedy, Moscow, October 28, 19626. Meeting between U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, October 30, 19627. Letters between Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, October 26-31, 1962ChronologyBibliographyAbout the Editor and ContributorsIndex