*Shortlisted for the Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History* 'An enthralling account of a pivotal moment in modern history. . . replete with startling revelations about the deception and mutual suspicion that brought the US and Soviet Union to the brink of Armageddon in October 1962' Martin Chilton; Independent The definitive new history of the Cuban Missile Crisis from the author of Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy; winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize For more than four weeks in the autumn of 1962 the world teetered. The consequences of a misplaced step during the Cuban Missile Crisis could not have been more grave. Ash and cinder; famine and fallout; nuclear war between the two most-powerful nations on Earth. In Nuclear Folly; award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy tells the riveting story of those weeks; tracing the tortuous decision-making and calculated brinkmanship of John F. Kennedy; Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro; and of their advisors and commanders on the ground. More often than not; Plokhy argues; the Americans and Soviets simply misread each other; operating under mutual distrust; second-guesses and false information. Despite all of this; nuclear disaster was avoided thanks to one very human reason: fear. Drawing on an impressive array of primary sources; including recently declassified KGB files; Plokhy masterfully illustrates the drama of those tense days. Authoritative; fast-paced and unforgettable; this is the definitive new account of the Cold War's most perilous moment.