JFK's Darkest Hour: The Cuban Missile Crisis

JFK's Darkest Hour: The Cuban Missile Crisis

In October 1962 the world came very close to annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the autumn of 1962, a U2 reconnaissance aircraft produced clear evidence that the Soviet Union and the Cuban authorities were building medium-range ballistic missile facilities on the island of Cuba and only around 100 miles from the coast of Florida. The resulting confrontation between the USA under JFK and the Soviet Union led by Nikita Khrushchev lasted just over a month and it's often considered to be the closest that the Cold War came to escalating to full-scale nuclear war. Serhii Plokhy, author of Nuclear Folly: A New History of the Cuban Missile Crisis, is Dan's guest on the podcast today. Serhii's research, using new archive material, has shown that during the crisis we came even closer than previously thought to the Cold War going hot.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(1507)

Dresden. 75 years on.

Dresden. 75 years on.

75 years ago this week Dresden, in Saxony, known as the ‘jewel box’ because of its stunning architecture was obliterated by British and American bombers. The flames reached almost a mile high. Around ...

9 Feb 202035min

The British Republic

The British Republic

Paul Lay, editor of History Today, has written a great book about the rise and fall of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate (1653–1659), England's sole experiment in republican government – and one of the m...

6 Feb 20201h 1min

Flu pandemics. Then and Now.

Flu pandemics. Then and Now.

'We are very very vulnerable' says the brilliant science author and journalist Laura Spinney. Her fantastic book 'Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World' is a shocking accoun...

5 Feb 202029min

Confronting a Nazi past

Confronting a Nazi past

Derek Niemman and Noemie Lopian work together. Two people from very different backgrounds, they tour the world telling people about their family stories.Author and writer Derek Niemann discovered only...

4 Feb 202032min

Night of the Bayonets

Night of the Bayonets

75 years ago this spring a fascinating but forgotten battle was fought in the dying days of the Second World War. A group of Georgians rose up against their German overlords on the Dutch island of Tex...

29 Jan 202024min

Max Eisen: Surviving Auschwitz

Max Eisen: Surviving Auschwitz

Max Eisen was only 15 when he and his family were taken from their Hungarian home to the infamous Auschwitz Concentration Camp during the Second World War. All of his relatives were killed; only Max s...

27 Jan 20201h 17min

UnRoman Britain

UnRoman Britain

How far did Roman culture and politics penetrate into Britain during the Roman occupation of Britannia?Miles Russell, archaeologist and writer, argues that Britain wasn't as Romanised as has often bee...

26 Jan 202027min

The Anglo-Zulu War

The Anglo-Zulu War

Saul David - historian, broadcaster and author of several critically-acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction - comes on the show to discuss the most brutal and controversial British imperial confli...

22 Jan 202023min

Populært innen Historie

med-egne-oyne
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
historier-som-endret-norge
henrettelsespodden
rss-katastrofe
historier-som-endret-verden
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
rss-benadet
sektledere
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
aftenposten-historie
rss-frontkjemperne
rss-politisk-preik
rss-gamle-greier
rss-bisarr-historie
historiepodden-ww2
historiepodden
rss-historiske-romanser-svik-drap-og-kjarlighet
rss-historiepodden-ww2
vare-historier