For the thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the future seemed to hang by a thread. Nuclear holocaust not only seemed posssible, but likely. United States military forces around the world were placed on high alert, and American nuclear bombers and land-based missiles were moved to DEFCON-2: the highest state of readiness short of war. Soviet Union military forces were moved to a similar level of readiness and both sides were ready for World War III. This book presents the most complete, lively, and shocking account of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the events leading up to it that has ever been published.