The brilliant disaster / Rasenberger, Jim

Provides a detailed account of the US-backed military invasion of Cuba in 1961, examining CIA documents, discussing President John F. Kennedy's denial and involvement in the invasion, and examining whether the CIA manipulated Kennedy to approve a plan that would eventually involve the US military.

In a book published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the author draws on recently released CIA information to shed new light on the botched operation, which was an embarrassment to JFK and the United States.