The value of Blight and Brenner's book is that it presents the Cuban perspective in extensive detail. Sad and Luminous Days will provide an important counterpoint to the stream of simplistic books about the missile crisis that are sure to appear.

Library Journal

Recommended.

Choice Reviews

The book is well written, meticulously researched, balanced, and is an excellent read.

Political Studies Review

Clearly written, well argued, thoroughly documented, and worth a read. Achieve[s] some major breakthroughs that aid in our understanding of contemporary Cuba.

Science & Society

Drawing on newly declassified documents from the U.S., Cuba, and Russia, as well as interviews with former officials in all three countries, Blight and Brenner show how the missile crisis was caused, in large part, by a lack of empathy between Washington, Havana, and Moscow. I have known for some time that we in the Kennedy administration misunderstood the Cubans and Russians. But in Sad and Luminous Days, we learn the many ways the Cubans and Russians misunderstood each other, and how those misunderstandings made the crisis as dangerous as it was. The book is a superb addition to recent history and is full of important lessons for relations between Great Powers and small countries, beginning with the lesson: 'Empathize with your adversary, or you may regret it!'

Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (1960–1968)

Using interviews with senior officials and recently declassified documents from Cuba, the United States, and the former Soviet Union, Blight and Brenner brilliantly show how Fidel Castro manipulated the Great Powers while posing as their innocent victim. This is a well-researched and beautifully written account of the triangular relationship that brought the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe.

Robert A. Pastor, professor and director of the Center for North American Studies, American University