On October 27, 1962, the world was on the brink of nuclear war. Original documents from US and Russian archives, now declassified, depict how close those two countries actually came to such a conflict. Released http://www.awesomestories.com/history/thirteen_days/thirteen_days_ch1.htm are the pictures President Kennedy saw (which started the "Cuban Missile Crisis"); the letters JFK exchanged with Soviet Premier Khrushchev; memo documenting a plan to overthrow Castro; photographs of Soviet ships transporting nuclear weapons; long-suppressed evidence of the secret meeting between Bobby Kennedy and Anatoly Dobrynin which helped to end the crisis; and Fidel Castro's negative reaction to the deal JFK made with Khrushchev.
The primary-sources website where these materials are linked, in context, is subscription-based, but it is free to all educators, schools and libraries. Simply request an academic membership at the site's main URL: http://www.awesomestories.com/
Carole Bos, J.D.
Grand Valley State University
Dean's Advisory Board
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