The Shadow of War - by Jeff Shaara

Book Synopsis

From the bestselling author comes the story of rising conflict between the super-powers that gripped the world, a global war that almost happened: The Cuban Missile Crisis.

In 1961, the new president John F. Kennedy, inherited an ill-conceived, poorly executed invasion of Cuba that failed miserably and set in motion the events that put the U.S. and the Soviet Union on a collision course that nearly started a war that would have enveloped much of the world.

Extensively researched and vividly imagined, The Shadow of War brings to life the many threads that lead to the building crisis between the Soviet Union and the United States in 1962.

Told from a multitude of perspectives and voices, from the Russian engineer attempting the near impossible task of building the missile launch facilities in Cuba, to the U.S. Navy commanders who ships are sent to "quarantine" Cuba, to the Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, desperately trying to maintain a challenging balancing act between the conflicting demands of various powerful forces, to the brothers Kennedy (Bobby and JFK) who can't allow Russia to land nuclear missiles in Cuba, or to appear weak in confronting Khrushchev, but keenly understand how close they are dancing to the edge of war.

Shaara brings to life all the action and actors, famous and little known, that embodied a war that almost happened, the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Review Quotes

"A gripping story of foes stepping away from the brink of annihilation." --Kirkus Reviews

"[Shaara] makes the story feel fresh, immediate, and even suspenseful...It is a remarkable literary performance, and the novel does what some history texts do not: it makes us feel as though we are living through the Cuban Missile Crisis." --Booklist

"Another in a growing line of exceptionally told historical pieces by Jeff Shaara. A tale that would not be believed had it not been true, this is a rapid-fire page-turner of a story that does not let up or disappoint." --Bookreporter

About the Author

JEFF SHAARA is the award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of nineteen novels, including The Old Lion, as well as Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure - two novels that complete the trilogy begun with his father's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, The Killer Angels. Shaara was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, and lives in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.