St. Martin’s Press
368 Pages
I did not grow up during the hottest part of the Cold War. I was among the last of the kids to have air raid drills when I was a student at Washington Hunt. My sister, who is three years younger, said she barely remembers doing one in kindergarten or first grade. Our younger brother never did any. Our parents were school aged when the Cuban Missile Crisis loomed over the land. They knew the fear of the possibility of nuclear war. My generation missed most of that, although we have some awesome shows and movies about surviving such a catastrophe. (Wolverines!).
I’ve read a couple of books about the crisis, and watched the 2000 movie, “Thirteen Days.” When I saw that Jeff Shaara had written a historical fiction novel surrounding the events from the Cuban Missile Crisis, I had to check it out. The Shadow of War explores the time leading up the events in Cuba in October, 1962. I was ready to learn a bit about what happened back then while being entertained.
The main cast of characters are all there: John and Bobby Kennedy. Lyndon Johnson. Robert McNamara. Nikita Krushchev. And several others. As the placement of missiles commences in Cuba and the Americans find out, we switch between American and Russian points of view and their reactions to the other side. This novel delves into the minds of the major players in world leadership. It barely touches upon the people in the dirty parts of the historical narrative.
Shaara does give us a single glimpse of one of the freedom fighters as the failure of the mission is ensured. It’s a very short part of the book, but, in my opinion, is my favorite part of the book. Shaara would have been better to explore the human element of the Cuban Missile Crisis instead of trying to rehash the tension between the leaders of the two superpowers. We’ve all read the countless accounts of the Kennedys and of Krushchev. That’s old hat. But what about the real people? This book only hints at it. Shaara could have struck gold. That lost potential makes this book just a bit aggravating. Almost as aggravating was Johnson telling the reader in his thoughts how much he hated Bobby Kennedy. It seemed like every time Lyndon and Bobby got together, the author had to tell us how much they hated each other. Every time.
That’s not to say that this isn’t a good book. It is. It tells the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis in a way that non-history buffs can be entertained and learn at the same time. This will be easier to get through than a tired, scholarly work. By no means should this be considered an actual reference to that time period, but should give you the basic idea of some of the things we went through and how close we were to nuclear annihilation.
The Shadow of War by Jeff Shaara is a good book that had a lot more potential. While I did quite enjoy reading this book, I felt there was something left behind when it comes to the human impact of the events during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Shaara gives you a solid retelling from the points of view of the world leaders involved. He misses on the people who were directly affected. If you’re going to read this book, you should know those aspects going in. It is worth the read but you’ll be asking for more after you’ve finished.
Craig Bacon loves historical fiction. It’s a hit or miss genre, but it seems to be gaining popularity at a hectic pace.