Berlin 1961 : Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the most dangerous place on earth / Frederick Kempe.

By:

Kempe, Frederick

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, c2011.Description: xxv, 579 p., [32] p. of plates : ill., maps ; 24 cmISBN:

9780399157295
0399157298

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

943/.1550875 22

LOC classification:

E841 .K34 2011

Contents:

The players. Khrushchev : communist in a hurry ; Marta Hillers's story of rape ; Khrushchev : the Berlin crisis unfolds ; Kennedy : a president's education ; The "sniper" comes in from the cold ; Kennedy : a first mistake ; Ulbricht and Adenauer : unruly alliances ; The failed flight of Friedrich Brandt ; Ulbricht and Adenauer : the tail wags the bear -- The gathering storm. Springtime for Khrushchev ; Amateur hour ; J�orn Donner discovers the city ; Perilous diplomacy ; Vienna : Little Boy Blue meets Al Capone ; Vienna : the threat of war ; Angry summer ; Marlene Schmidt, the universe's most beautiful refugee -- The showdown. "The great testing place" ; Ulbricht and Kurt Wismach lock horns ; The Wall : setting the trap ; The Wall : desperate days ; Eberhard Bolle lands in prison ; A hero's homecoming ; Nuclear poker ; Showdown at Checkpoint Charlie -- Epilogue: Aftershocks.

Summary: Based on a new documents and interviews, this work is a look at the Berlin Crisis of 1961, with powerful applications for the present. In June 1961, Nikita Khrushchev called it "the most dangerous place on earth." He knew what he was talking about. Much has been written about the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later, but the Berlin Crisis of 1961 was more decisive in shaping the Cold War, and more perilous. For the first time in history, American and Soviet fighting men and tanks stood arrayed against each other, only yards apart. One mistake, one overzealous commander, and the trip wire would be sprung for a war that would go nuclear in a heartbeat. On one side was a young, untested U.S. president still reeling from the Bay of Pigs disaster. On the other, a Soviet premier hemmed in by the Chinese, the East Germans, and hard liners in his own government. Neither really understood the other, both tried cynically to manipulate events. And so, week by week, the dangers grew.

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Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
900 - 999	West Grey Ayton Branch Shelves	Non-fiction	943 .155 KEM (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		33321003099356

Total holds: 0

Maps on lining papers.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [553]-563) and index.

Based on a new documents and interviews, this work is a look at the Berlin Crisis of 1961, with powerful applications for the present. In June 1961, Nikita Khrushchev called it "the most dangerous place on earth." He knew what he was talking about. Much has been written about the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later, but the Berlin Crisis of 1961 was more decisive in shaping the Cold War, and more perilous. For the first time in history, American and Soviet fighting men and tanks stood arrayed against each other, only yards apart. One mistake, one overzealous commander, and the trip wire would be sprung for a war that would go nuclear in a heartbeat. On one side was a young, untested U.S. president still reeling from the Bay of Pigs disaster. On the other, a Soviet premier hemmed in by the Chinese, the East Germans, and hard liners in his own government. Neither really understood the other, both tried cynically to manipulate events. And so, week by week, the dangers grew.

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