we read a whole range of books, he starting to get more engaged. >> watch this another interviews about the books that they are reading booktv.org. >> bookkeeping "primetime" starts right now, history professor provides a history of the cuban missile crisis, then amanda tyler former clerk for the late supreme court ruth bader ginsburg discusses ruth bader ginsburg's life and work, new yorker staff writer reports on the family's wealth on pharmaceuticals which included volume and oxycontin. former president george w. bush talks about his paintings of immigrants in their journey to america and law professor david examines how law classifies which crimes are violent. more schedule information on your program guide or booktv.org. and now the history of the cuban

missile crisis. >> from the national archives, i am the archivist of the united states and my pleasure to welcome you to today's virtual lecture, author of new career in october 1962 the world came to nuclear armageddon, the discovery of soviet missiles being installed in cuba trigger the most dangerous encounter of the cold war rivalry between the united states and the soviet union. after 13 anxious days they reach a resolution of the danger of mutual destruction. the showdown between two rivals it was a global crisis. they offer an international perspective on the crisis in the new career based on a range of other documents including white house recordings and the john f. kennedy presidential library and previously classified kgb records in moscow.

he is a professor of ukrainian history and the director of the ukrainian research institute at harvard university. a leading authority on eastern europe and russia and published extensively on the international history of cold war his books include the last empire, the gates of europe and true noble. a moderator for today's discussion is michael dobbs, he was born and educated in britain but now a u.s. citizen. he was a longtime reporter for the washington post covering the collapse of communism as a foreign correspondent he has written seven books including one minute to midnight on the cuban missile crisis which was a new york times bestseller, his latest book richard nixon and watergate in america tragedy will be published in may, let's hear from michael dobbs, thank you for joining us today. >> thank you very much for that

introduction. congratulations and joining a group of cuban missile crisis historians in an excellent book about the crisis, i think the quality of the book for me is a good nonfiction book and it's readable and appeals to the general public and secondly it adds something to her knowledge the can also appeal in your book suddenly does not. they said this is the most. in history the closest we ever got to nuclear armageddon assuming you agree with that, why can you set the stage, why did this happen in 1962, the

u.s. had exploded the first atomic bomb in 1945 and the soviets refunded in 1949 on truman and for the nuclear competition to come to a head, why is that? >> we want to thank you to the national archives for covering this event in this discussion, michael thank you to the moderators and the discussions here. with the missile crisis, i remember it appeared it was about to appear and we were one of the first as part of the story.

the world is going back to this conversation in the discussions today. the question 1962. what is rather interesting about the first time the soviet union on terms of the nuclear capabilities to the united states of america. >> there was a missile gap

between the united states and the soviet union the missile gap was there but not in favor of washington. and he wanted to deal with that and they don't have enough strategic, they had enough of range in that way in which the american puritans. that is one of the reasons why happened in 1962 and in 1956,. >> there was a nuclear imbalance

in 1962 and christopher wanted to address it, do you think you have other motivations and about the defense of the cuban revolution which castro suddenly considered to be under threat in the united states and christoph as well. >> absolutely. i was trying to keep my answers written short it was an important part of the story. in concern that you most live by in the mission in the western hemisphere is adapted from the united states and after the bigger things that happened in april they believe it's a matter of time before he would put his

act together and there would be an issue. if he convince castro to china because castro was trying to go and there was a threat coming from beijing in washington at the same time as far as he was concerned, he decided with three bearings in the nuclear missile. >> he was an emotional type of leader, he saw the u.s. was deploring similar missiles to turkey in the hedgehog on uncle

sam's, how much did his personality influence the crisis. >> he was taking risks when he came to visit to the united states in 1969 because it was the biggest airplane at the moment at the time. she was prepared in the same as truth cuba she and i believe if she swallowed the pill on the missile that kennedy would've treated the same, and that the united states will look at that is something completely extraordinary. in the cultivation of the space

and judgment to the missile crisis and that was the biggest one . . . mild and that was to read the

hostage. the political environment more than once they were different in terms of the binds between the two states. they said when people ask what you do they said we would react

but there was enormous political pressure and the best example of that is they wanted to figure out what the policy should be under the missile. why not four days or three or four hours. the information about the missiles but not concerned about the service. they needed to can delete --

delivered to the science but that is the matter. >> let's back up a bit. you as the author mentioned originally from ukraine. i heard you once said you lived close to where the missiles were constructed. the tell us about that missile and why it was important. a. >> as a student and young the professor in the city it was to the largest missile factory in

new york. there were two types of missiles. the medium-range and then fourteens built at the same factory. for me it was an interesting story and i ran to the kgb archives and i also looked at the materials during that particular factory and the development and building of those missiles. the question is the period to say that the union was producing

missiles like sausages so it's interesting that wasn't actually the truth and that statement. >> they sent nuclear weapons that we didn't learn about until many years later. with another primitive country they managed to smuggle 43,000 and understanding what is going on. i wanted to read a paragraph from your book which drawing on

the archives that you concerted. >> absolutely. i'm happy to do that. going through the kgb report the fate was decided and we have to pay the bill. they headed off to cuba. one had criticized the government and its policies. the lender was intercepted by

the kgb but then decided to send him to cuba anyway in the hopes that after it works. this is a kgb office that's even more outspoken. i'm ready to lose my party card as long as i get back to the unit.

you found these reports. it turned out before i started that research 75 to 80% would go from the military district and ultimately 80% of the personnel from ukraine. each of those ships that were bringing in equipment had to engage. the officers then required in the reports the expedition. they were reporting on the

attitude of the personnel and the encounters of the ships. half of those would make one trip to cuba and back but it's a unique source of the documents, specific documents. there were certain things from the memoirs but now they also have reported what's happening at that time and it sheds a new light on the story. >> it turns out quite a few people were not really happy about this mission and they felt it's pretty useless to send all this equipment to a place like

cuba with the collapse of the soviet union when there's a great deal of discontent about all the money being wasted on the countries and this contrasts with a kind of nostalgia. but do you think that these people that are quoted in the reports are representative of the opinions of the rest of the 43,000 or are they just for a small minority? >> it's difficult to judge that on the basis. there is a certain goal on the example where there was some form of disloyalty.

what we know from other sources suggests this wasn't a small group of people. they were relatively widespread and refused to go to cuba. for example the first missile regiment that came to cuba, his name, lieutenant colonel commander that refused to go aside citing all sorts of reasons. we have other examples as well and we also know that that the commanders would send to cuba to

create a percentage of people who question soviet policies. they turned back after the missile and also some were looking for adventure to get outside across the iron curtain. the attitudes were different but a percentage of people were -- for many of them it was

extended. at that time it was in the reserve. that was a major concern certain concerns were shared by the society. >> what's the difference between the ordinary russian or ukrainian soldier and the elite and nuclear forces in addition to tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers that faced elite including mathematicians and so on. do you see the difference between the two groups? >> what we see is those that i

just quoted and the officers who were there for the three year period. the top commanders they don't have much information on that. we knew from their memoirs that they were extremely critical of two things. first of their own commanders who came to cuba and ensured them of the missiles that it turned out it wasn't possible to do and they were the ones that assured him that it was

possible. and then the second situation was the withdraw from cuba was exercised and we know that from the sources in particular because they were exposed to the strip search and to show the missiles they were bringing back to the soviet union. they said the captain of the ship received the order and was prepared to fill it. when they did refuse to do it but there were hundreds between them the minister of defense was very supportive of everything he literally was doing at that

time. never in the history. it took place during the withdrawal but in the way that it was conducted and the reason they were searched is because khrushchev was never able to convince but along the deal that he struck with kennedy he refused to go along. >> i'm going to wrap this up in a few minutes if any of the

viewers have questions then please feel free to submit them and we will spend the last few minutes responding to the questions. what did you think was the most dangerous aspect of the crisis? was at this conflict between kennedy and khrushchev or do you think it was something else, the miscommunication and happening by accident. >> the solution like the one that developed at the top level the decision made by the officer on the ground so they could prioritize one over another.

too much attention is paid to the idea of the decision-making and it's not like that is not important but is not the only thing happening at that time. your book is one of the first books that tries to broaden the scope and bring people on the ground and the soviets side of the story. it was the most problematic issue in the crisis the first one was the miscommunication and misunderstanding on the top level, to understand the logic

of the actions on the other side. the second issue was the inability to communicate taken after 24 hours to the left or the leader to be sent and that's why they were saving time. so that was another issue and the control on the ground and then what happened on both sides. again on the soviet side of the example is the military generals in general to shoot down the airplane over cuba they

generally made that decision at the time before the top commander who was at that time. then about possibly ascending this is the last [inaudible] and were terrified when they learned about that and what the consequences would be. so the command and control was a major issue at the time. >> it's interesting in the sentence that you wrote at the beginning of the epilogue they

managed to avoid after making almost every mistake conceivable to cause it. i want to talk about the present-day situation, but what do you mean by that? every mistake conceivable but in the end they managed to avoid nuclear war. the question was if they made all those mistakes the

explanation is the best explanation i was able to come up with of all the differences between the leaders there was something that united them and it was the fear of the nuclear war and the extortion of 1961 so they knew what the nuclear weapons could bring and they did their that best to stop the crisis from escalating into the nuclear war and it's exactly

that kind of but it's a really important factor i dedicate in the book to those that had the courage to step back. this is the same people that created this. >> who did you think was the winner in the end? kennedy had to give up any idea but castro was still there all these years later. it is a great, great question. if you look at that in terms of what happens the biggest is that

it was saved and because again he was the leader of this revolution but he intervened when the negotiation was taken. the second question would be khrushchev. he got rid of them as missiles in turkey but the world looked at khrushchev and he mentioned it was partially because it was

a step too far. and then president kennedy who was believed to be the winner and i think at the end of the day he handled the crisis very well but there is no irony. it was recognized by the united states and the world and that may change dramatically the relations between he and khrushchev even before the cuban missile crisis driving the

agenda it is kennedy who is in control and negotiates the agreement. that is the main thing that was gained. now we have a few questions here. perhaps you can say how the bay of pigs related to the missile crisis. there would be no cuban missile

crisis. first is that khrushchev decided that he really faced he couldn't believe kennedy wouldn't follow the support and that convinced him that he could be pushed around and i don't think that he would dare to do that after. the bay of pigs really verified the aggression but he had another invasion coming

establishing this connection and this concerned him. it's not a contributing factor to his decision to deliver to cuba so in both cases it is a bay of pigs invasion. and then another story what

happened in the berlin wall. >> they had been among the first soviet target if they decided to start a war if someone else asked. >> one of the chapters in my book the chapter is about kennedy. during the first week of the crisis he advocated a strike against the soviet installations. they called it quarantine so there is a quarantine and the

response was next i am sending the plaintiff there and what are we doing after that so it was much more concerned than the possibility of the nuclear war over cuba and that was the time of the cuban missile crisis so the confrontation was extremely important. a. >> but the question is if the subjects decide to start a war who had been among that first topic. >> this is a good question and i would say that most likely yes.

my guess is based not so much on the inside knowledge of the thinking at the time but during the kind of missile that they had and they were medium-range and france and britain certainly were the targets as well. they had seven or six at the time of the missiles in reach so i'm pretty sure in the nuclear confrontation the response again would be the attack on the u.s. major allies. turkey as well. >> someone else asked what were the reactions to the soviet withdrawal in cuba and then czechoslovakia and the others.

>> one thing that we know depended on the relations that day. i quote in my book memoirs of the security shift and talking about extremely hectic behavior on the part of khrushchev. in terms of the rest, everyone was terrified. the closest advisors but they kept silent and really couldn't

say publicly what they felt that the attitude was critical. there were reports to visit soon after and what they report on is almost hours trying to sell to them it was a great success and that is very clear he had to get the access and that it was critical. a. >> we need to wrap up now, but i have one last question for you. this was said to be the most dangerous going into the history. what do you think of the situation we are looking in

today? is it a more or less dangerous world than it was back in 1962 if you could be quite succinct about that? i thought it would be possible in the introduction of the conclusions. the feeling is [inaudible] pre- 62 this is the nuclear arms race, uncontrolled nuclear arms race that creates the crisis and churchill reflected that and khrushchev was trying to create

and then after the cuban missile crisis there's a non-corporation treaty and so it was and finally agreements between reagan and the white house and gorbachev. now we live in the world where every single arms control agreement with the exception all of those treaties are gone. the last one signed by gorbachev and reagan in 1987 with the intermediate missiles will expired because the united states and russia left it. generally we are back in the race which isn't coagulated.

that means we are in other cuban missile crisis and not only with the soviet union but north korea, iran and many others that have become nuclear. >> more drivers than was the case. >> thank you for sharing this interesting book with us and i think all the authors of the cuban missile crisis can agree there are lessons to be learned from it so i urge people to go out and buy the book and read it and you will find many interesting parallels and lessons for the day.

thank you very much. >> thank you to the national archives. ♪♪ ♪♪ here is a portion of this program.

>> i started telling him the story about being a little girl going to my grandfather's attic and finding these letters that had been written by my mother's first cousin who was killed when he was 18. when i would read these letters they moved me to tears and i thought if i'm going to put the time into writing a book i want it to be a book about something i'm going to learn a ton researching and i spent the next few years researching it and learning about the battle, traveling and just sort of immersing myself in this one battle and i learned so much about harry and not only that but a lot about the men who were there with him. >> tell me a little bit about harry. >> 18-years-old from arlington massachusetts. his father died when he was 12.

we were all very close so i grew up knowing her very well and wondered about the loss she suffered using her husband and son which was a heartbreaking loss that reverberated to my family and even as a kid my mom who was close a door to him, he was like a big brother and it was something that stayed the rest of her life and i the time i didn't understand the magnitude. you don't feel those when you are little but the more i dug into the letters the more i realized why this was a huge part of her life and her families life. >> you have the build up to the fight in the pacific that you have stories you remember from your childhood or that you've researched and learned and if you wouldn't mind telling everybody the stories that stick with me so much is when they

find out that pearl harbor has been bombed. i remember my mom telling me as a kid about that today we went to church and afterwards we were so excited. she had a family friend they would have hot chocolate and she said we were sitting in the booth and it had just arrived with whipped cream on top and she could smell it and she was stirring it to cool it off and then heard a something crackling on the radio and all of the adults in the room got nervous and started putting their coats on and she remembered her mother grabbing her by the wrist saying we've got to go. all hell is breaking loose. the world has changed and she didn't know what was going on but she remembered that for the rest of her life and that changed everything because all the young men they knew he would go a couple of years later because he went to the pacific and it changed their lives forever. to watch the rest of this program, visit our website booktv.org. use s