I don’t know if this is the best forum for books reviews (or if it should be an ongoing opportunity to critique good or bad reading), but I would like to mention a good book.

One Minute to Midnight is perhaps the best resource regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis.  I think we owe a great amount of gratitude to the level-headedness of those courageous individuals handling perhaps the most dangerous time in human existence.

The book tells, in much greater detail, just how close we were to nuclear war (obviously not winnable).  The work offers new information about the Soviet plans to blow up the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, the threat of Soviet cruise missiles (yes they had those back then too), and the downing of a U.S. U-2 aircraft over Cuba.

The books reads like a novel/thriller with remarkable prose.  The “countdown” format starts from the beginning of the crisis, October 15, 1962 thru Kennedy’s speech to the nation on 10/22/62, till Black Saturday 10/27/62 when a “cascade” of events took place, minute-by-minute – all with the potential for catastrophe.

If anything, the book reveals human nature at its best and worst.  For those interested in serious history, it is strongly recommended.  It is also timely as it was published this past summer.