The Brilliant Disaster, Jim Rasenberger
The Brilliant Disaster, Jim Rasenberger
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The Brilliant Disaster
JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba

Author: Jim Rasenberger

Narrator: Bob Walter

Unabridged: 17 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/05/2011


Synopsis

A “balanced, engrossing account” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) of the Bay of Pigs crisis drawing on long-hidden CIA documents and delivering the vivid truth of five pivotal days in April 1961.

At the heart of the Bay of Pigs crisis stood President John F. Kennedy, and journalist Jim Rasenberger traces what Kennedy knew, thought, and said as events unfolded. He examines whether Kennedy was manipulated by the CIA into approving a plan that would ultimately involve the American military. He also draws compelling portraits of the other figures who played key roles in the drama: Fidel Castro, who shortly after achieving power visited New York City and was cheered by thousands (just months before the United States began plotting his demise); Dwight Eisenhower, who originally ordered the secret program, then later disavowed it; Allen Dulles, the CIA director who may have told Kennedy about the plan before he was elected president (or so Richard Nixon suspected); and Richard Bissell, the famously brilliant “deus ex machina” who ran the operation for the CIA—and took the blame when it failed. Beyond the short-term fallout, Rasenberger demonstrates, the Bay of Pigs gave rise to further and greater woes, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, and even, possibly, the assassination of John Kennedy.

Written with elegant clarity and narrative verve, The Brilliant Disaster is the most complete account of this event to date, providing not only a fast-paced chronicle of the disaster but an analysis of how it occurred—a question as relevant today as then—and how it profoundly altered the course of modern American history.

About Jim Rasenberger

Jim Rasenberger is the author of four books—Revolver; The Brilliant Disaster; America, 1908; and High Steel—and has contributed to the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Smithsonian, and other publications. A native of Washington, DC, he lives in New York City.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lawrence A on October 18, 2012

Although this is a good journalistic account of the planning (as it were) and ultimate failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba by CIA-trained-armed-directed-and-funded Cuban exiles in April 1961, the author's determination to rely for most of his information on the surviving CIA officers and Cub......more

Goodreads review by Barry on June 22, 2019

Jim Rasenberger’s book adds an important element that is missing from another book on the Bay of Pigs, Bay of Pigs: The Untold Story by Peter Wyden. That missing element is the political context. Rasenberger delves into the cold war mentality of the time, the breakdown in relations with Castro, and......more

Goodreads review by Jason on September 25, 2014

The past has always fascinated me. Studies of Presidential Leadership and Decision-making in times of crisis have always intrigued me. But none moreso than the five fateful days in 1961 when a new and untested President of the United States was forced to take control and lead what would soon be know......more

Goodreads review by Christopher on February 14, 2022

Jim Rasenberger's The Brilliant Disaster provides a crisp recounting of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the doomed 1961 effort to overthrow Fidel Castro with an army of Cuban exiles. Rasenberger tries avoiding the pitfalls of other, partisan histories which blame either John F. Kennedy or the CIA exclusiv......more

Goodreads review by Jason on March 08, 2023

It’s not always easy deciding how to review a history book. You can’t give the author credit for creating a good story because they are simply telling us about something that already happened, presumably in the real world. You wouldn’t ordinarily compliment a history writer’s writing skills either;......more