Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Thirteen Days A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis free essay sample

An analysis of Robert Kennedys book describing his account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This paper begins with a summary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The basic plot and the main characters detailed in the book are then identified and the decision-making process is analyzed. A background of the author and origins of the book are provided. A critical analysis of the book follows. Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis published in 1969, is Robert Kennedys account of the major symbol (the Cuban missile crisis) of cold war confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. In the year 1962, after the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the USSR increased its support of Fidel Castros Cuban regime. In the summer of the same year, Nikita Khrushchev, who was heading the Soviet Union, secretly decided to install ballistic missiles in Cuba. In October, the U.S. reconnaissance flights revealed the clandestine construction of missile launching sites, [U-2 had just finished a photographic mission (Kennedy: 1971, 19)] Which led to President Kennedy publicly denouncing the Soviet actions. We will write a custom essay sample on Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He imposed a naval blockade on Cuba and declared that any missile launched from Cuba would warrant a full-scale retaliatory attack by the United States against the Soviet Union. On October 24, Russian ships carrying missiles to Cuba turned back. On October 28 Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles and dismantle the missile sites. Consequently, the United States ended its blockade on November 20, and by the end of the year the missiles and bombers were altogether removed from Cuba.