The closest most of us will ever come to being inside the Oval Office at a moment of crisis. For sheer drama, this work of history may never be duplicated. The events of the Cuban Missile Crisis unfold in the actual words of President John F. Kennedy and his top advisers. Now available in a new, concise edition, this book retains its gripping sense of history in the making.

"[A] splendid achievement, as powerful and exciting a book as one is likely to read this year...."—Barry Gewen, New York Times Book Review "Gripping history."—Richard J. Tofel, Wall Street Journal "[M]esmerizing. I was utterly fascinated....the best, fullest account of crisis yet and will remain so for decades to come."—Stephen E. Ambrose "[A]s close as most people will ever get to being a fly on the wall during the discussions of leaders."— Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review , James G. Blight 20 photographs