The Presidential Recordings - John F. Kennedy: The Great Crises (Hardcover, Three-Volume Slipcased Set)

The most remarkable window that Americans have ever had into how their country is governed.

These volumes provide a unique glimpse into the real workings of the Kennedy White House, presenting perhaps the most reliable record of the Kennedy presidency ever published. In the summer of 1962, President John F. Kennedy installed a secret taping system in the White House. His aim was to record meetings and conversations he considered important, probably intending to use them when he wrote the memoir of his years in office, a book he never had the chance to write. The tapes are now being authoritatively transcribed, and those for the period from the installation of the tape system through October 28, 1962 (the end of the Cuban missile crisis), are presented here in their entirety.

Among the many highlights in these volumes, a fall in the stock market leads President Kennedy to consider a short-term tax break; a leak of highly classified intelligence information to the New York Times spurs Kennedy to confer with his advisers about how, for the first time, the White House might use the Central Intelligence Agency for domestic surveillance of American reporters; Kennedy tapes the tense hours as the White House dispatches the army to rescue James Meredith following Meredith's effort to enroll at the University of Mississippi; and, of course, the fascinating, secret discussions during the Cuban missile crisis.

The result is stunning, fly-on-the-wall history. Aided by the multimedia companion enclosed with this set on CD-ROM, anyone can now travel back in time and be there at the top of the most powerful government in the world in a time of crisis.

"It is hard to imagine a more instructive or exciting history than the presidential recordings of JFK's 'Great Crises.' The tense debate, the confusion, the insights, the jokes, the courage—it's all there, as it really happened. This is the true 'West Wing.'" —Evan Thomas

" The Great Crises is a treasure trove of new insights and information on three of the most promising and dangerous months in American history. These volumes will intrigue the general reader and keep historians working hard for a long time as we assess and reassess John Kennedy's presidency." —Michael Beschloss

"These volumes of presidential recordings both fascinate and illuminate. They show how John F. Kennedy reached his vital decisions, and they cast important new light on the conflicts of our times. This is history in the raw, and it is compelling." —Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

"There is nothing comparable to this multi-volume collection of presidential materials. This work is and will be an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the twentieth-century American presidency." —Robert Dallek