Why read DEFCON-2?

Book cover of DEFCON-2: Standing on the Brink of Nuclear War During the Cuban Missile Crisis

Book description

The closest we've ever come to the end of the world

"DEFCON-2 is the best single volume on the Cuban Missile Crisis published and is an important contribution to the history of the Cold War. Beyond the military and political facts of the crisis, Polmar and Gresham sketch the personalities…

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Why read it?

1 author picked DEFCON-2 as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Francis Gary Powers Jr.

Author

Norman Polmar and I have been colleagues and friends for over 20 years. Not only have we served together on several Cold War history panels including the DIA’s 60th-anniversary conference on the Cuban Missile Crisis in 2022, but we also co-authored the Epilog for my father’s book, Operation Overflight, when it was republished in 2004. Polmar’s book is an in-depth study of the personalities that orchestrated the Cuban Missile Crisis. Even the title, DEFCON-2, emphasizes exactly how close we came to launching an all-out nuclear war with the Soviet Union in October 1962.

From Francis' list on the Cuban Missile Crisis and aerial reconnaissance.