Why did the Cuban Missile Crisis happen? How was it resolved? By focusing on the roles of a number of key individuals, such as JFK, Robert Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, and by using recently declassified materials, this book frames answers to these questions. In so doing, it presents a cluster of new findings and arguments, including a fresh interpretation of Khrushchev's motives for putting missiles in Cuba, new information on the mystery surrounding Senator Kenneth Keating's secret sources, and evidence indicating that JFK planned to carry out a military strike on Cuba at the start of the crisis.

Acknowledgements - Introduction - Approaching Camelot: John F. Kennedy and the Tools of a New Frontiersman - Kennedy's Cuban Policies: Misconceptions and Missed Opportunities - Nikita Khrushchev and the Decision to Deploy - The Fall Offensive of Senator Keating - Belligerent Beginnings: JFK on the Opening Day - The Battle for Blockade: Robert Kennedy versus Dean Acheson - Adlai Stevenson: Hamlet in New York - Denouement - Conclusion - Bibliography - Index