Thirteen Days

A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis

De: Robert F. Kennedy

Narrado por: Kurt Elftmann

In October 1962, when the United States confronted the Soviet Union over its installation of missiles in Cuba, few people shared the behind-the-scenes story as it is told here by the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. In this unique account, he describes the hour-by-hour negotiations, with particular attention to the actions and views of his brother, President John F. Kennedy.

In a foreword to this edition, the distinguished historian and Kennedy adviser Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., discusses the book's enduring importance and the significance of new information about the crisis that has come to light from the former Soviet Union.

©1971, 1969 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., Copyright 1968 by McCall Corporation (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A minor classic in its laconic, spare, compelling evocation by a participant of the shifting moods and maneuvers of the most dangerous moment in human history." (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)

Not as good as the movie

A but dry but still informative. I'd recommend the movie if you want something more entertaining

Historical Terror

Historical Terror at a time when there was so much unknown. This gives a good look at what else was going on from a Soviet perspective. I didn't know we had missiles right outside their back door. No wonder they wanted to place them outside our back door. Once again, the United States won the gamble.

Great story, terrible narrator

Fascinating read that sheds insight into an important event in our history. To be honest, the book is a bit dry, but the material is still interesting. Also makes me wonder how much of this is a biased summary, given that JFK's brother wrote the book. All that aside, worthwhile read. Sort of makes you look at global politics a little differently.

IF YOU LOVE HISTORY"""

Robert Kennedy Lived it. I was a young republican then, but I think JFK handled this the best way possible.
In 1968, I planned to vote for RFK , Anybody to replace LBJ. Anyway, If you like history I believe you will enjoy
this book.

An good inside look

I saw the film adaptation long before I read the book. The book is interesting but I'm suspicious to a degree since "Bobbie" is a central character, and the main character is his own brother. However, given whatever flaws it may have based on those relationships, it is still an important story of one of the most frightening events of the 20th Century. RFK's original work is quite brief, but the supplementary notes are as interesting and as important as the main work. It's is interesting to note the impact of a single book, Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August had on the President, and the results that had for the outcome of the crisis. The whole approach used by the President is useful in ways far beyond nuclear diplomacy.

interesting.

This is a very interesting listen and people are being too harsh on the narrator.

Excellent

RFK’s personal account is fast-paced and sobering. His style is very enjoyable and doesn’t bog down. I do wish his account was longer, it was so interesting.
The afterword was too long-winded, taking a full two hours of the listening time.

Very good insight

As a child of this period I was aware of the crisis and this book gave me additional understanding of what JFK faced during these days. Great statesmanship on both sides of the pond. You will enjoy this book.

A First Draft of History

Memoirs from historical figures are often among the first drafts of history. Robert Kennedy’s Thirteen Days on the Cuban Missile Crisis is one such example, penned shortly before his untimely assassination in 1968 and published posthumously. In light of all that’s been written and learned about the crisis, especially since the end of the Cold War, there are times when Thirteen Days might feel like a very light, even dry listen. But as a first hand account of the crisis written by one of its major participants, it’s also got moments of insight into the thinking of the author’s brother (the President of the United States, lest we forget) and into what it was like to be among the men at the table making decisions that could very well impact upon the lives of everyone on Earth.

Indeed, perhaps because Kennedy never had a chance to revise the manuscript, his writing has two helpful supplements attached to it. One is a lengthy afterword on the lessons of the crisis from academics Richard E. Neustadt and Graham T. Allison who, while framing it in the context of the Cold War and the then ongoing Vietnam War, make cases and points about diplomacy and America’s role that are still all too relevant more than a half-century after it was written. There’s also collected in the book’s conclusion the text of both President Kennedy’s televised speech on the crisis as well as messages back and forth between the President and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, offering context for portions of the main book (though it must be said this section translates rather POORLY for the audiobook version, despite the otherwise solid reading from Kurt Elftmann).

While a thin book, not to mention one perhaps overtaken by the opening of archives and the declassification of details that the author couldn’t write about a mere five years after the event, Thirteen Days remains worth seeking out for anyone wanting to learn more about the Cuban Missile Crisis and how narrowly the world avoided a nuclear war at the height of the Cold War.

an insight into a point in history

this is an insight intoa point of history from someone who was in the room where it happened. history as it happened