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Political historian Peter Hennessy reads from his new study of Britain in the early 1960s.

In the nuclear standoff of the Cold War, two great nightmare events stalked the early 1960s and the premiership of Harold Macmillan. He called it The World Crisis which manifested itself first on the streets of the now divided pre-war German capital, Berlin. Following the end of the Second World War, the city was overseen by the Soviet Union, the USA, the British and the French. As tension flared across the line of division between east and west Berlin, tanks appeared on the streets and the infamous wall was erected to keep the sectors apart.

Shortly after the wall went up, Cuba became the focus of world tension as Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sent vast quantities of weaponry to the Communist-ruled Caribbean island, targeting the nearby United States. A young and still relatively inexperienced US President, John F Kennedy, had to decide how to confront the new threat in his backyard.

Written and Read by Peter Hennessy
Adapted for radio by Libby Spurrier
Produced by Simon Elmes

A Pier production for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4