eBook

Awaiting Armageddon : how Americans faced the Cuban Missile Crisis

George, Alice L.

2003,2004

Overview

For thirteen days in October 1962, America stood at the brink of nuclear war. Nikita Khrushchevs decision to place nuclear missiles in Cuba and John F. Kennedys defiant response introduced the possibility of unprecedented cataclysm. The immediate threat of destruction entered Americas classrooms and its living rooms. Awaiting Armageddon provides the first in-depth look at this crisis as it roiled outside of government offices, where ordinary Americans realized their government was unprepared to protect either itself or its citizens from the dangers of nuclear war. During the seven days between Kennedys announcement of a naval blockade and Khrushchevs decision to withdraw Soviet nuclear missiles from Cuba, U.S. citizens absorbed the nightmare scenario unfolding on their television sets. An estimated ten million Americans fled their homes; millions more prepared shelters at home, clearing the shelves of supermarkets and gun stores. Alice George captures the irrationality of the moment as Americans coped with dread and resignation, humor and pathos, terror and ignorance. In her examination of the public response to the missile crisis, the author reveals cracks in the veneer of American confidence in the early years of the space age and demonstrates how the fears generated by Cold War culture blinded many Americans to the dangers of nuclear war until it was almost too late.

• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press,The University of North Carolina Press
• Subject: 20th century / Atomic warfare / Civil defense / Civil defense -- United States -- History -- 20th century / Cold War / Cold War -- Social aspects -- United States / Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 / Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 -- Public opinion / Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 -- Social aspects / Defenses / East and West / Everyday life / Foreign relations / Government and politics / HISTORY / International relations / Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917-63 / Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich, 1894-1971 / Nuclear war / Nuclear warfare / Nuclear warfare -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century / Public opinion / Public opinion -- United States -- History -- 20th century / Social aspects / Social conditions / Social history / Soviet Union / U.S.A / United States / United States -- Politics and government -- 1961-1963 / United States -- Social conditions -- 1960-1980
• ISBN: 0807828289, 9780807828281, 0807861618, 9780807861615, 9781469608839, 1469608839