Berlin 1961：Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

InJune1961,NikitaKhrushchevcalledBerlin"themostdangerousplaceonearth."Heknewwhathewastalkingabout.MuchhasbeenwrittenabouttheCubanMissileCrisisayearlater,buttheBerlinCrisisof1961wasmoredecisiveinshapingtheColdWar-andmoreperilous.ItwasinthathotsummerthattheBerlinWallwasconstructed,whichwoulddividetheworldforanothertwenty-eightyears.Thentwomonthslater,andforthefirsttimeinhistory,AmericanandSovietfightingmenandtanksstoodarrayedagainsteachother,onlyyardsapart.Onemistake,onenervoussoldier,oneoverzealouscommander-andthetripwirewouldbesprungforawarthatcouldgonuclearinaheartbeat.Ononesidewasayoung,untestedU.S.presidentstillreelingfromtheBayofPigsdisasterandahumiliatingsummitmeetingthatlefthimgraspingforwaystorespond.Itwouldadduptobeoneoftheworstfirst-yearforeignpolicyperformancesofanymodernpresident.Ontheotherside,aSovietpremierhemmedinbytheChinese,EastGermans,andhardlinersinhisowngovernment.Withanall-importantPartyCongressapproaching,heknewBerlinmeantthedifferencenotonlyfortheKremlin'sholdonitsempire-butforhisownholdontheKremlin.Neithermanreallyunderstoodtheother,bothtriedcynicallytomanipulateevents.Andso,weekbyweek,theycreptclosertothebrink.Basedonawealthofnewdocumentsandinterviews,filledwithfresh-sometimesstartling-insights,writtenwithimmediacyanddrama,Berlin1961isanextraordinarylookatkeyeventsofthetwentiethcentury,withpowerfulapplicationstotheseearlyyearsofthetwenty-first.Includesphotographs