The Fourteenth Day

I've finished reading "The Fourteenth Day : JFK and the Aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis: The Secret White House Tapes" by David G. Coleman (publication date of 0ct 8th of this year, to coincide w/ the 50th anniversary of the crisis.) I did learn some things, like the extent of the Kennedy administration's legally dubious actions towards the press, and the fact that the crisis (barely) scooped Khrushchev's plans for a November gamble to take the initiative in the Cold War. But as the title states, this book is crafted from secret recordings JFK made (clandestine recordings, vindictive attacks on reporters - JFK and RN were Bobbsey Twins in some regards). So . . . it might have been nice to actually have included more than a few lines of transcripts scattered throughout the book. For 200 pages the author essentially summarizes what's on the tapes, and because of that - and a lack of panache by the author - this reads like a well done but uninspiring research paper. . Grade: C