''Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis'' is

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

's account of the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

of 1962. The book was released in 1969, the year after his assassination.Haruya Anami, "'Thirteen Days' Thirty Years After: Robert Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited," ''Journal of American & Canadian Studies'' (1994) Issue 12, pp 69-88. ''Thirteen Days'' describes the meetings held by the Executive Committee ( ExComm), the team assembled by US President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

to handle the tense situation that developed between the United States and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

following the discovery of Soviet

nuclear missiles Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. Several methods have been developed to carry out this task. ''Strategic'' nuclear weapons are used primari ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Robert Kennedy, who was the

US Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

at the time, describes his brother John's leadership style during the crisis as involved, but not controlling. Robert Kennedy viewed the military leaders on the council sympathetically, and recognized that their lifelong concentration on war was difficult to set aside. The book was used as the basis for the 1974 television play ''

The Missiles of October ''The Missiles of October'' is a 1974 docudrama made-for-television play about the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. The title evokes the 1962 book ''The Guns of August'' by Barbara Tuchman about the missteps amongst the great powers and the ...

''. In 2000, the theatrical film '' Thirteen Days'' was produced using the same title, but based on an entirely different book, ''The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis'' by

Ernest R. May Ernest Richard May (November 19, 1928 – June 1, 2009) was an American historian of international relations, whose 14 published books include analyses of American involvement in World War I and the causes of the Fall of France during World War ...

and Philip D. Zelikow. That book contained some information that Kennedy was not able to reveal because it was classified at the time.

Notes

1969 non-fiction books 20th-century history books Political books Books about the Cold War Books published posthumously Non-fiction books about military history of the United States History books about the Soviet Union History books about Cuba Works by Robert F. Kennedy Works about the Cuban Missile Crisis W. W. Norton & Company books {{USSR-hist-book-stub