The Shadow of War
A Novel of the Cuban Missile Crisis
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4.4 • 82 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author comes the story of rising conflict between the super-powers that gripped the world, a global war that almost happened: The Cuban Missile Crisis.
In 1961, the new president John F. Kennedy, inherited an ill-conceived, poorly executed invasion of Cuba that failed miserably and set in motion the events that put the U.S. and the Soviet Union on a collision course that nearly started a war that would have enveloped much of the world.
Extensively researched and vividly imagined, The Shadow of War brings to life the many threads that lead to the building crisis between the Soviet Union and the United States in 1962.
Told from a multitude of perspectives and voices, from the Russian engineer attempting the near impossible task of building the missile launch facilities in Cuba, to the U.S. Navy commanders who ships are sent to "quarantine" Cuba, to the Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, desperately trying to maintain a challenging balancing act between the conflicting demands of various powerful forces, to the brothers Kennedy (Bobby and JFK) who can't allow Russia to land nuclear missiles in Cuba, or to appear weak in confronting Khrushchev, but keenly understand how close they are dancing to the edge of war.
Shaara brings to life all the action and actors, famous and little known, that embodied a war that almost happened, the Cuban Missile Crisis.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Shaara (The Old Lion) dramatizes the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis in his lackluster latest. The story draws on the perspectives of various members of the Kennedy administration; Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and his advisers; and fictional English professor Joseph Russo, a Kennedy supporter living in a pro-Nixon Florida community. As the Kennedy White House grapples with the complex fallout of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, an emboldened Khrushchev begins shipping nuclear weapons to Cuba. Attorney general Robert Kennedy, under the direction of his brother in chief, scrambles to come up with a path forward that won't lead to mutually assured destruction, and the cabinet weighs a land invasion, a naval blockade, and diplomacy. These Oval Office scenes alternate with ones featuring Khrushchev, who considers potential countermoves and deals with the hardliners in his party who push for a strong response to the U.S. blockade. Meanwhile, the Russo family learns of the threat through television broadcasts and duck-and-cover drills at school. Exposition-heavy dialogue lessens the suspense, and too little attention is paid to the Russos. This pales in comparison to other fictional treatments of earthshaking geopolitical events, such as Robert Harris's Munich.
Customer Reviews
The Shadow of War
A good review of the missile crisis and all that happened behind the scenes. I was about 12 years old when this occurred but only understood a bit of it. It’s a good read….as usual from Shaara
Excellent read
Loved the way it is written with the conversations back and forth between opposing sides. This made it easy to understand what was transpiring each day during this 2 week crisis.