Front Door to Cuba

1961

Front Door to Cuba

INVASION at Bay of Pigs - References

"Events are the ephemera of history."
Fernand Braudel

Menu | Intro | The Plan | Invasion | Victory / Defeat | Aftermath | References

A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House

By Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
I can't believe this one's out of print. A shame. You may still be able to find it at better public libraries.
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston

The Bay of Pigs: The Untold Story

By Peter Wyden
A very thorough account of the invasion. Recommended.
Simon & Schuster

Bay of Pigs Declassified

Edited by Peter Kornbluh
Here you'll find the full text of the Inspector General’s report, a detailed chronology and more.
The New Press, NY

The Bay of Pigs and the CIA

By Juan Carlos Rodríquez
The Cuban point of view, including recently declassified files and information.

 

One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev,Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-64

By Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali
W.W. Norton & Co.

Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse

By James G. Blight, Bruce J. Allyn & David A. Welch
Pantheon Books

Decision for Disaster: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs

By Grayston Lynch

Kennedy

By Theodore Sorensen
Harper & Row

The Kennedys and Cuba: The Declassified Documentary History

Edited with commentary by Mark J. White
Lots of recently declassified memos and official notes from meetings and discussions on topics ranging from Operation Mongoose, the Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs, and more.
Ivan R. Dee

The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations in Cuba, 1959-1965

By Don Bohning
Potomac Books, Inc.

Psywar on Cuba: The Declassified History of U.S. anti-Castro Propaganda

By Jon Elliston
Exposes a 40-year campaign by Washington to use psychological warfare and propaganda to destabilize Cuba and undermine the revolution.
Ocean Press

The perfect failure: Kennedy, Eisenhower, and the CIA at the Bay of Pigs

Trumbull Higgins
W.W. Norton & Co.

 

Reflections of a Cold Warrior: From Yalta to the Bay of Pigs

By Richard M. Bissell, Jr.
Chilling, matter-of-fact. Straight from mouth of the one CIA official in charge of planning the invasion.

 

Robert Kennedy and His Times

By Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Houghton Mifflin Company

ZR Rifle: The Plot to Kill Kennedy and Castro - Cuba Opens Her Secret Files

By Claudia Furiati
Ocean Press

The War That Never Was: An Insider's Account of CIA Covert Operations Against Cuba

By Bradley Earl Ayers, Captain
Bobbs-Merril Company, Inc.

Sad and Luminous Days: Cuba's Struggle with the Superpowers after the Missile Crisis

By James G. Blight and Philip Brenner
Bowman & Littlefield Publishers

Shadow Warrior/the CIA Hero of a Hundred Unknown Battles

By Felix I. Rodriguez and John Weisman
Simon and Schuster

The Bay of Pigs: The Pivotal Operation of the JFK Era

By L. Fletcher Prouty
http://www.prouty.org/


A lot of behind-the-scenes tidbits about the transition between the Eisenhower/Kennedy presidencies, and some thoughts on how this affected the Bay of Pigs operation.

Family Portrait With Fidel: A Memoir

By Carlos Franqui | A thoughtful, emotional book. Recommended.
Random House, New York

American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond

E. Howard Hunt

Revolution in Cuba: An essay in understanding

By Herbert L. Matthews | Matthews sheds light on a part of history largely misunderstood in North America.

Cuba and the United States: A Chronological History

by Jane Franklin

And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba – A Personal Portrait

By Néstor T. Carbonell
A popular book in the exile community, obviously stilted against Castro.
William Morrow & Company, Inc.

Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy – Cuban Missile Crisis

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/cuba.htm
Here you can also find fifteen or so documents on Bay of Pigs, including the official memorandums recently made public.

Home Page | Contents | Galleries | Site Index | Timetables