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Gambling with Armageddon
- Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
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Publisher's summary
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus comes the first effort to set the Cuban Missile Crisis, with its potential for nuclear holocaust, in a wider historical narrative of the Cold War — how such a crisis arose, and why at the very last possible moment it didn't happen.
In this groundbreaking look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, Martin Sherwin not only gives us a riveting sometimes hour-by-hour explanation of the crisis itself, but also explores the origins, scope, and consequences of the evolving place of nuclear weapons in the post-World War II world. Mining new sources and materials, and going far beyond the scope of earlier works on this critical face-off between the United States and the Soviet Union — triggered when Khrushchev began installing missiles in Cuba at Castro's behest — Sherwin shows how this volatile event was an integral part of the wider Cold War and was a consequence of nuclear arms.
Gambling with Armageddon looks in particular at the original debate in the Truman Administration about using the Atomic Bomb; the way in which President Eisenhower relied on the threat of massive retaliation to project US power in the early Cold War era; and how President Kennedy, though unprepared to deal with the Bay of Pigs debacle, came of age during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Here too is a clarifying picture of what was going on in Khrushchev's Soviet Union.
Martin Sherwin has spent his career in the study of nuclear weapons and how they have shaped our world. Gambling with Armegeddon is an outstanding capstone to his work thus far.
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Critic reviews
“A thrilling read.... This book takes us as close as we will ever get to the people whose judgments or insights determined the fate of 200 million people in a nuclear war.” (Thomas Leonard, professor of history of journalism and librarian, University of California, Berkeley, emeritus)
“A great achievement that should generate intense discussion not only about what now appears to be the dim past, but also about the kinds of people we now entrust our survival to.... I found myself (almost) wondering if the world would in fact be destroyed, and was quite relieved when the answer was no.... A remarkably good book in every way.” (Sanford Levinson, W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial chair in law, University of Texas at Austin)
“Evocative, compelling, interpretive...a tour de force. Sherwin makes the crisis so vivid. He clarifies beautifully what was happening meeting by meeting, what were the options, what were the ambiguities.... Far and away the best book on the crisis.” (Melvyn Leffler, Edward Stettinius professor of history emeritus, University of Virginia)
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Excellent, important book, bad narration.
- By Richard L. Hubbell on 02-06-20
By: Fred Kaplan
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Dereliction of Duty
- Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
- By: H. R. McMaster
- Narrated by: H. R. McMaster
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Dereliction of Duty is a stunning analysis of how and why the United States became involved in an all-out and disastrous war in Southeast Asia. Fully and convincingly researched, based on transcripts and personal accounts of crucial meetings, confrontations, and decisions, it is the only book that fully re-creates what happened and why. McMaster pinpoints the policies and decisions that got the United States into the morass and reveals who made these decisions and the motives behind them, disproving the published theories of other historians and excuses of the participants.
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Rough narration
- By AC Griffin on 12-04-19
By: H. R. McMaster
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The Doomsday Machine
- By: Daniel Ellsberg
- Narrated by: Steven Cooper
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg's hair-raising insider's account of the most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization, whose legacy - and renewal under the Obama administration - threatens the very survival of humanity. It is scarcely possible to estimate the true dangers of our present nuclear policies without penetrating the secret realities of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, when Ellsberg had high-level access to them.
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Fascinating Insider Story
- By Terry Masters on 12-07-17
By: Daniel Ellsberg
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Thirteen Days
- A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- By: Robert F. Kennedy
- Narrated by: Kurt Elftmann
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In October 1962, when the United States confronted the Soviet Union over its installation of missiles in Cuba, few people shared the behind-the-scenes story as it is told here by the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. In this unique account, he describes the hour-by-hour negotiations, with particular attention to the actions and views of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. In a foreword to this edition, the distinguished historian and Kennedy adviser Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., discusses the book's enduring importance and the significance of new information about the crisis that has come to light from the former Soviet Union.
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IF YOU LOVE HISTORY"""
- By Max & Lucy on 02-24-19
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Plan of Attack
- By: Bob Woodward
- Narrated by: Boyd Gaines
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Abridged
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Plan of Attack is the definitive account of how and why President George W. Bush, his war council, and allies launched a preemptive attack to topple Saddam Hussein and occupy Iraq. Bob Woodward's latest landmark account of Washington decision making provides an original, authoritative narrative of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, examining the causes and consequences of the most controversial war since Vietnam.
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Rorschach Test
- By Michael on 05-03-04
By: Bob Woodward
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Duty
- Memoirs of a Secretary at War
- By: Robert M. Gates
- Narrated by: George Newbern, Robert M. Gates
- Length: 25 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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From the former secretary of defense, a strikingly candid, vivid account of serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House, he thought he'd long left Washington politics behind: After working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happily serving as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty.
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The Fighting Season
- By Cynthia on 01-28-14
By: Robert M. Gates
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Known and Unknown
- A Memoir
- By: Donald Rumsfeld
- Narrated by: Donald Rumsfeld
- Length: 30 hrs and 10 mins
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A powerful memoir from the late former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. With the same directness that defined his career in public service, Rumsfeld's memoir is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also features Rumsfeld's unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history. Both a fascinating narrative and an unprecedented glimpse into history, Known and Unknown captures the legacy of one of the most influential men in public service.
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Inside view of five decades in politics
- By Brooks on 02-19-11
By: Donald Rumsfeld
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140 Days to Hiroshima
- The Story of Japan’s Last Chance to Avert Armageddon
- By: David Dean Barrett
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
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On the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki comes this heart-pounding account of the war-room drama inside the cabinets of the United States and Japan that led to Armageddon on August 6, 1945. Here are the secret strategy sessions, fierce debates, looming assassinations, and planned invasions that resulted in history’s first use of nuclear weapons in combat, and the ensuing chaotic days as the Japanese government struggled to respond to the reality of nuclear war.
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Never Giving Up
- By Rick B on 07-11-20
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Kissinger's Shadow
- The Long Reach of America's Most Controversial Statesman
- By: Greg Grandin
- Narrated by: Brian O'Neill
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
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A new account of America's most controversial diplomat that moves beyond praise or condemnation to reveal Kissinger as the architect of America's current imperial stance. In his fascinating new book, acclaimed historian Greg Grandin argues that to understand the crisis of contemporary America - its never-ending wars abroad and political polarization at home - we have to understand Henry Kissinger.
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A Rehash of Rehashes...nothing new
- By A. M. on 10-06-19
By: Greg Grandin
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How Wars End
- Why We Always Fight the Last Battle
- By: Gideon Rose
- Narrated by: Gideon Rose
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
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In 1991, the United States Army trounced the Iraqi army in battle only to stumble blindly into postwar turmoil. Then in 2003 the United States did it again. How could this happen? How could the strongest power in modern history fight two wars against the same opponent in just over a decade, win lightning victories both times, and yet still be woefully unprepared for the aftermath? Because Americans always forget the political aspects of war.
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Excellent book
- By Luis on 11-04-10
By: Gideon Rose
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The Button
- The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump
- By: William J. Perry, Tom Z. Collina
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
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Written in an accessible and authoritative voice, The Button reveals the shocking tales and sobering facts of nuclear executive authority throughout the atomic age, delivering a powerful condemnation against ever leaving explosive power this devastating under any one person's thumb.
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Garbage political tripe
- By Bryan Beaty on 03-15-21
By: William J. Perry, and others
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The War State
- The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite, 1945-1963
- By: Michael Swanson
- Narrated by: Larry Wayne
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
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Today when you factor in the interest on the national debt from past wars and total defense expenditures the United States spends almost 40% of its federal budget on the military. It accounts for over 46% of total world arms spending. Before World War II it spent almost nothing on defense and hardly anyone paid any income taxes. You can't have big wars without big government. Such big expenditures are now threatening to harm the national economy.
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Surprisingly Good
- By ohmie on 04-22-14
By: Michael Swanson
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What listeners say about Gambling with Armageddon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- J. P.
- 01-10-21
A thorough telling
I found this to be a thorough telling of the Cubam Missile Crisis, told in the context of the first 17 years of nuclear decisions and the consequences of them. The Kruschev side, the close calls at sea, and seeing the mercurial nature of everyone's viewpoints throughout the Crisis are all fantastic.
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- Julie Schmidt
- 08-04-24
The folly of humankind is greater than nuclear weapons
Amazing story in revealing the hubris, folly, courage and cowardice of those who hold the power of the sun and human life as we know it in, what they believe to be, their hands. If you don't believe there is God who attends to humanity and can intervene to prevent our worst tendencies, at least until some time appointed in tne future, I have no concept of why.
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- Paul Hartnett
- 01-12-22
Consider this your lucky day.
A genuinely fascinating account of the Cuban Missile Crisis that skillfully shows how nuclear war was avoided only as a matter of luck.
What is most frightening is the degree to which much of Kennedy’s staff and all of the military thought attacking Cuba was the only response to the missiles. When UN Ambassador Stevenson first suggested diplomacy rather than military engagement he was viewed as completely unrealistic and yet that was the only response which saved us from annihilation.
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- OkazakiFrag
- 02-04-22
Don’t Underestimate the Power or Luck
A very fantastic book. I really enjoyed and appreciated the unbiased (in my opinion) content of this book. Hearing what happened in both the USSR and US shows that we aren’t that different and that no one wanted a war. The narrator is excellent and did not try to sound Russian when quoting Nikita Khrushchev, which I very much appreciated because that tends to take away from the seriousness of the content. This is an excellent book!
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- Dale
- 02-04-23
Luck? Or God’s Providence
A great read! I gained many insights into the history of the nuclear crises. The author credits luck (and says there is a dwindling supply of good luck in the world) for saving us from a general nuclear war. It could just as well be that God put John Kennedy in place for this moment and the “level-headed “ missile launch officer similarly, to avoid catastrophe. There is more to life than luck!
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- Brian Johnston
- 11-10-20
A deep dig into our closest call with our demise
This is a good book for any history buff or those interested in diplomacy in action. The material is sometimes repetitious and each chapter is enumerated section by section providing a somewhat dry listen. But for anyone who seeks Thirteen Days with depth of detail, this surely delivers the goods. A worthy read.
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- Derek
- 10-31-24
This should be a documentary
It was really interesting and disturbing to learn about things that I was never taught in public school.
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- J. B. Evans
- 06-12-21
Important History
The story is well told and heavily documented. The writing and performance generate considerable stress in the hearer which was likely at much higher levels in the historic characters.
I was shocked at the cavalier approach to nuclear war manifested by both military and civilian leadership. Politically I'm too the right of Atila the Hun but I have to give credit to JFK to keeping us out of war.
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2 people found this helpful