The Cuban Missile Crisis

A Concise History

Second Edition

Don Munton and David A. Welch

In The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Concise History, Second Edition, Don Munton and David A. Welch distill the best current scholarship on the Cuban missile crisis into a brief and accessible narrative history. The authors draw on newly available documents to provide a comprehensive treatment of its causes, events, consequences, and significance. Stressing the importance of context in relation to the genesis, conduct, and resolution of the crisis, Munton and Welch examine events from the U.S., Soviet, and Cuban angles, revealing the vital role that differences in national perspectives played at every stage. While the book provides a concise, up-to-date look at this pivotal event, it also notes gaps and mysteries in the historical record and highlights important persistent interpretive disputes. The authors provide a detailed guide to relevant literature and film for those who wish to explore further. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the crisis, this revised and updated edition of The Cuban Missile Crisis is ideal for undergraduate courses on the 1960s, U.S. foreign policy, the Cold War, twentieth-century world history, and comparative foreign policy.

New to this Edition:

Thoroughly revised to incorporate the latest scholarship
Expanded coverage of the Cuban dimension of the crisis
New Conclusion offers perspective on the significance of the crisis on its 50th anniversary

The Cuban Missile Crisis

A Concise History

Second Edition

Don Munton and David A. Welch

Description

In The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Concise History, Second Edition, Don Munton and David A. Welch distill the best current scholarship on the Cuban missile crisis into a brief and accessible narrative history. The authors draw on newly available documents to provide a comprehensive treatment of its causes, events, consequences, and significance. Stressing the importance of context in relation to the genesis, conduct, and resolution of the crisis, Munton and Welch examine events from the U.S., Soviet, and Cuban angles, revealing the vital role that differences in national perspectives played at every stage. While the book provides a concise, up-to-date look at this pivotal event, it also notes gaps and mysteries in the historical record and highlights important persistent interpretive disputes. The authors provide a detailed guide to relevant literature and film for those who wish to explore further. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the crisis, this revised and updated edition of The Cuban Missile Crisis is ideal for undergraduate courses on the 1960s, U.S. foreign policy, the Cold War, twentieth-century world history, and comparative foreign policy.

Previous publication dates

August 2006

The Cuban Missile Crisis

A Concise History

Second Edition

Don Munton and David A. Welch

Contents
New to the Second Edition Acknowledgments
List of Acronyms
Dramatis Personae (and Positions in October 1962)
Introduction: The REAL Thirteen Days

Chapter 1: Background to the Crisis
U.S.-Cuban Relations in Historical Perspective
The Bay of Pigs and Operation Mongoose
The Soviet Decision to Deploy

Chapter 2: Deployment and Discovery
Details of the Deployment
The Intelligence Game of Cat and Mouse
Warnings Too Late
On the Eve of Crisis

Chapter 3: From Discovery to Blockade
The Storm Before the Calm
Narrowing the Options
Decision

Chapter 4: The Perfect Storm
The Speech
Carrots and Sticks
Khrushchev and Kennedy Waver
The Crisis Heats Up
The Dobrynin Meeting
Climax and Resolution

Chapter 5: Aftermath
Removing the Missiles from Cuba
The Cuban Bomber Crisis
The Domestic and International Public Reaction
Steps Toward Détente: The Hot Line and Test Ban

Conclusion: The Cuban Missile Crisis Fifty Years Later

Bibliographic Essay
Early Treatments of the Crisis
The Second Wave: "Critical Oral History"
Recent Accounts
Background and History
Aftermath and Lessons
Document Collections and Websites
Film

Index

The Cuban Missile Crisis

A Concise History

Second Edition

Don Munton and David A. Welch

Author Information

Don Munton is Professor and Founding Chair of International Studies at the University of Northern British Columbia.

David A. Welch is CIGI Chair of Global Security and Interim Director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs, and Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo.