- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
On New Year’s Day 1959, Fidel Castro’s revolutionary movement overthrew the ruling regime in Cuba, bringing the Cold War to the United States’ doorstep and setting the island nation and its superpower neighbor on a collision course. The clash came in April 1961 on the southern coast of Cuba at the Bahía de Cochinos—the Bay of Pigs. In an hour-by-hour chronicle that is as even-handed as it is dramatic, J. J. Valdés gets to the heart of this Cold War battle, from the beaches and skies of Cuba to the corridors of power in Washington and Havana.
Long entangled in Cuba’s economy and politics, the United States watched Castro’s revolution carefully and grew wary as Castro drew closer to the Soviet Union. Within a few months, the CIA, with President Dwight Eisenhower’s approval, was recruiting and training Cuban exiles for a paramilitary force to topple Castro. By early 1960, when John F. Kennedy became president after campaigning on a hard line on Cuba, policymakers believed the window for action was closing. Kennedy gave the go-ahead for the island’s invasion, but not before ordering changes, aimed at concealing American involvement, that weakened the operation.
Early on April 17, 1961, 1,400 men of Brigade 2506—Cuban exiles trained by the CIA in Guatemala—began landing at the Bay of Pigs, just over 100 miles southeast of Havana. Nearly everything went wrong. Boat engines failed. Coral reefs snarled landing craft. Castro’s planes destroyed ships carrying vital ammunition and medical supplies. Expected popular support within Cuba did not materialize. Khrushchev rattled the nuclear saber, spooking Kennedy from ordering assistance he was reluctant to provide anyway. Over the course of three days, the Brigade obstinately defended a rapidly shrinking beachhead, but the exiles—outnumbered and under supported —were no match for the air and ground forces Castro threw against them. By April 19, the invasion had failed and 1,200 scattered survivors were captured over the ensuing days. What had been intended as a Cold War masterstroke ended in embarrassment for the U.S. The Bay of Pigs disaster would set the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis eighteen months later and shape U.S.-Cuba relations up until the present.
Decades in the making, Besieged Beachhead draws from English and Spanish sources in the United States and Cuba to tell the story of this conflict as it has never been told before. Along the way, the work sheds light on events that have been shrouded in secrecy, myth, and propaganda for six decades.
Long entangled in Cuba’s economy and politics, the United States watched Castro’s revolution carefully and grew wary as Castro drew closer to the Soviet Union. Within a few months, the CIA, with President Dwight Eisenhower’s approval, was recruiting and training Cuban exiles for a paramilitary force to topple Castro. By early 1960, when John F. Kennedy became president after campaigning on a hard line on Cuba, policymakers believed the window for action was closing. Kennedy gave the go-ahead for the island’s invasion, but not before ordering changes, aimed at concealing American involvement, that weakened the operation.
Early on April 17, 1961, 1,400 men of Brigade 2506—Cuban exiles trained by the CIA in Guatemala—began landing at the Bay of Pigs, just over 100 miles southeast of Havana. Nearly everything went wrong. Boat engines failed. Coral reefs snarled landing craft. Castro’s planes destroyed ships carrying vital ammunition and medical supplies. Expected popular support within Cuba did not materialize. Khrushchev rattled the nuclear saber, spooking Kennedy from ordering assistance he was reluctant to provide anyway. Over the course of three days, the Brigade obstinately defended a rapidly shrinking beachhead, but the exiles—outnumbered and under supported —were no match for the air and ground forces Castro threw against them. By April 19, the invasion had failed and 1,200 scattered survivors were captured over the ensuing days. What had been intended as a Cold War masterstroke ended in embarrassment for the U.S. The Bay of Pigs disaster would set the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis eighteen months later and shape U.S.-Cuba relations up until the present.
Decades in the making, Besieged Beachhead draws from English and Spanish sources in the United States and Cuba to tell the story of this conflict as it has never been told before. Along the way, the work sheds light on events that have been shrouded in secrecy, myth, and propaganda for six decades.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Besieged Beachhead by J. J. Valdés in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & North American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Author’s Note
- Preface
- Introduction
- PART I: PRELUDE TO BATTLE
- PART II: BATTLE
- PART III: EPILOGUE
- Appendix A. Missions Undertaken April 17–19 by the Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria (FAR)
- Appendix B. B-26 Missions Undertaken April 17–19 by the Brigade Air Force
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Bibliography
- About the Author