Pigs, Missiles and the CIA Volumes 1-2

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Pigs, Missiles and the CIA – Volumes 1 & 2 
By Linda Rios Bromley

The Cold War brought the world to the brink of nuclear war more than once — and nowhere was that danger more vividly realised than on the island of Cuba. In Pigs, Missiles and the CIA, Nigel Walpole presents a gripping two-volume history of the dramatic events that unfolded just ninety miles from the United States: from the failed Bay of Pigs invasion to the terrifying confrontation of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Drawing on extensive research, eyewitness accounts, and rare imagery, these volumes reveal the political intrigue, covert operations, and military brinkmanship that defined a generation.

Volume 1 – The Bay of Pigs
After decades of dictatorship under Fulgencio Batista, Cuba was transformed by the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro. Proclaiming himself a nationalist rather than a communist, Castro’s policies soon told another story — with sweeping nationalisations and a growing alliance with the Soviet Union. The exodus of Cubans to the United States alarmed Washington, and the CIA began to plot his downfall.

This first volume tells the inside story of the covert operation that became one of the most infamous failures in US intelligence history — the Bay of Pigs invasion. Conceived under President Eisenhower and executed under President Kennedy, the CIA’s plan enlisted Cuban exiles, trained in secret by US operatives in Guatemala and Nicaragua, to overthrow Castro’s regime. Equipped with salvaged aircraft and outdated equipment, Brigade 2506 launched its assault on Bahía de Cochinos. Within three days, the invasion collapsed in chaos, exposing the limits of covert warfare and altering US–Cuban relations for decades to come.

 
Volume 2 – The Cuban Missile Crisis
The failure at the Bay of Pigs drove Castro closer to Moscow — and by 1962, the Soviet Union had begun deploying nuclear missiles, bombers, and troops to Cuba. When US reconnaissance revealed the threat, President Kennedy faced an unthinkable dilemma: invade Cuba and risk nuclear war, or stand down and accept a hostile Soviet nuclear base just offshore.

This second volume charts the Cuban Missile Crisis in vivid detail — from the tense decision-making in Washington and Moscow to the standoff at sea as US naval forces blockaded the island. Walpole reconstructs the critical moments when the world stood on the edge of annihilation, tracing the fast-moving exchanges between leaders, spies, and soldiers caught in a global confrontation. Illustrated throughout with period photographs and specially commissioned colour artworks, this volume brings to life one of the most perilous episodes in modern history.

Together, these two volumes form a complete account of the most dramatic moments of the early Cold War — the CIA’s failed invasion of Cuba and the ensuing nuclear confrontation that brought humanity to the brink.