In October 1962, the world tottered on the brink of nuclear war. The Soviet Union's Premier Nikita Khrushchev had placed missiles in Cuba to defend it from unexpected American invasion. When US intelligence provided President John F. Kennedy with proof, he demanded that they be removed, risking the first nuclear exchange between the superpowers. Now, new information reveals just how fragile communication between Moscow and Washington was and how little each side understood of the other.