13 Days From Nuclear War

For thirteen days in October 1962, the United States and Soviet Union came dangerously close to nuclear war.

After American reconnaissance aircraft discovered Soviet nuclear missiles being installed in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy faced an impossible decision: attack the missile sites, invade Cuba, or risk allowing the weapons to become operational.

This documentary follows the Cuban Missile Crisis day by day—from the secret photographs and tense ExComm meetings to the naval quarantine, confrontation at the United Nations, Black Saturday and the hidden compromise that finally ended the crisis.

It also examines the parts often missing from the familiar story:

• Why the Soviet Union placed missiles in Cuba • The importance of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion • America’s nuclear missiles in Turkey • The U-2 aircraft shot down over Cuba • The nuclear-armed Soviet submarine B-59 • The secret agreement behind the public settlement • Why Cuba was excluded from the final negotiations

Was the outcome a triumph of leadership—or a warning about how much depended on restraint, miscommunication and luck?

Forwards or Backwards explores the events, inventions and decisions that shaped the modern world.

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