Macmillan, Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis: Political, Military and Intelligence Aspects

by L. Scott

Overview

In October 1962, the world went to the brink of Armageddon. This study provides an archive-based account of the Cuban missile crisis from the British perspective. The diplomatic, military and intelligence dimensions of British policy are scrutinized. New material is presented and existing interpretations of UK-US relations at that crucial moment are reassessed. The book contributes a new aspect to the literature on the Cuban missile crisis by exploring where the views of Washington and its closest ally converged and diverged.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312219154
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	06/08/1999
Series:	Contemporary History in Context
Edition description:	1999
Pages:	251
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

L.V. SCOTT is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, where since 1990 he has specialised in international history and intelligence studies. From 1984 to 1988 he was Political Assistant to the Rt Hon Denis Healey, MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary. He has written on a variety of defence and security issues, and is the author of Conscription and the Attlee Governments: The Politics and Policy of National Service 1945-51, published in the Oxford Historical Monographs series.

Table of Contents

Improbable History
• The Cuban Revolution and British-American Relations
• Discovery and Blockade: Informing or Consulting?
• Converging Perspectives and Divergent Views
• Westminister and Hyde Park: British Politics and the Crisis
• Diplomatic Initiatives and Devious Approaches
• Ormsby-Gore and Penkovsky: British Contributions?
• Thor and Vulcan: British Gods of War
• "The Frightful Desire to Do Something"
• Conclusion
• Index

Editorial Reviews

'This is a scholarly and readable book that makes a very complex relationship accessible to all readers, whether or not they have prior knowledge of the Cuban Missile crisis...It is a book that makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the momentous events of the Cuban missile crisis. It will become an essential read for all those who want to know what happened, when and why from the British perspective.' - Alan P. Dobson, Contemporary British History

'This is a very good, careful study of the issues which arose between the two countries and is written in a clear style.' - Michael F. Hopkins, International Affairs

From the Publisher