Armageddon Letters

James G. Blight is theCenter for International Governance Innovation Chair in Foreign Policy Development at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada.janet M. Lang isresearch professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

• DedicationEpigraphForeword by Peter AlmondIntroduction. Armageddon in Retrospect: “Carrying the Fire” of the Cuban Missile Crisis Into the 21st CenturyCast of Characters. Three Leaders/Three CrisesPrelude. Sleepwalk: April 1961-October 1962Act I. Collision: October 22, 23 1962 Act II. Spiral: October 23-28 1962Act III. Escape: October 27-31 1962Act IV. Squeeze: October 30 1962-November 20 1962Postscript. Hope: December 10 1962-October 15 2010Appendix A. The Armageddon Time Machine/Text: Acquiring the LettersAppendix B. The Armageddon Time Machine/Context: Bringing the Letters Back to LifeCreditsEndnotesAcknowledgementsThe AuthorsIndex

Blight and Lang (Balsillie Sch. of International Affairs; coauthors, Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived) present a controversial investigation of the Cuban Missile Crisis, taking an approach they call “critical history,” in which discussions with players and rigorous analysis of primary documents are used to construct first-person narratives showing how Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro led their nations and interacted with each other (Kennedy with Khrushchev and Khrushchev with Castro). The authors claim that this is not fiction since facts are presented as they are known and no people, events, or scenarios are invented. The book is centered on 43 “Armageddon letters,” declassified between 1990 and 2005, which reveal that both Kennedy and Khrushchev tried to avoid a nuclear showdown, while Castro was willing to sacrifice Cuba if the Soviet Union would bomb the United States in retaliation. The book is divided into four acts, each one starting with a “Theatrical Preview” overview, and each also accompanied by a stark graphic story summarizing the text, with panels drawn by Andrew Whyte and dialog written by Koji Mautani. A helpful website, armageddonletters.com, amplifies the text. VERDICTThe book engages the reader and offers insight into leadership during the crisis.