The Shadow of War: A Novel of the Cuban Missile Crisis

The Shadow of War: A Novel of the Cuban Missile Crisis

by Jeff Shaara

Narrated by Paul Michael

Unabridged — 10 hours, 32 minutes

The Shadow of War: A Novel of the Cuban Missile Crisis

The Shadow of War: A Novel of the Cuban Missile Crisis

by Jeff Shaara

Narrated by Paul Michael

Unabridged — 10 hours, 32 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$26.99
FREE With a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
$0.00

Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime

START FREE TRIAL

Already Subscribed? 

Sign in to Your BN.com Account


Listen on the free Barnes & Noble NOOK app


Related collections and offers

FREE

with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription

Or Pay $26.99

Overview

"Michael's changing accents magnify our ability to follow and enjoy the novel. The compelling production transports listeners to the suffering of the entrenched infantry living in lice-filled uniforms and the pilots who stood in their cockpits to reach the firing mechanism of their machine guns. In a thick German accent, the historic Red Baron comes to life in a way that no printed page could ever portray" -AudioFile on To The Last Man, an Earphones Award winner

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.


Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

03/25/2024

Shaara (The Old Lion) dramatizes the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis in his lackluster latest. The story draws on the perspectives of various members of the Kennedy administration; Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and his advisers; and fictional English professor Joseph Russo, a Kennedy supporter living in a pro-Nixon Florida community. As the Kennedy White House grapples with the complex fallout of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, an emboldened Khrushchev begins shipping nuclear weapons to Cuba. Attorney general Robert Kennedy, under the direction of his brother in chief, scrambles to come up with a path forward that won’t lead to mutually assured destruction, and the cabinet weighs a land invasion, a naval blockade, and diplomacy. These Oval Office scenes alternate with ones featuring Khrushchev, who considers potential countermoves and deals with the hardliners in his party who push for a strong response to the U.S. blockade. Meanwhile, the Russo family learns of the threat through television broadcasts and duck-and-cover drills at school. Exposition-heavy dialogue lessens the suspense, and too little attention is paid to the Russos. This pales in comparison to other fictional treatments of earthshaking geopolitical events, such as Robert Harris’s Munich. (May)

From the Publisher

"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

Product Details

BN ID: 2940159500212
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication date: 05/14/2024
Edition description: Unabridged
Sales rank: 545,584
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews