Twice I have been to the little Bay of Pigs Museum while visiting Miami. Twice it has been closed! What a disappointment. This book then may be as close as I get. I can't see how you could tell this story much better. It is written in a thrilling 'you are there' style with little facts adding to its veracity. A quick example: He mentions a weather forecast of possible frost in the D.C. suburbs on the morning of April 19th. I looked it up: Sure enough BWI (then Friendsip Airport) fell to 37F that morning. Dulles Airport records did not even begin in 1962. Where speculation is called for he is more than willing to admit that it is just that. In terms of the never-ending blame game on the Bay of Pigs no one in this account really gets a 'pass' but no one is completely eviscerated either. There is blame and (some) credit for all (well, most). Overall I felt the author did a commendable job of even-handed treatment. The description of all the incredible personalities is just fascinating. I recommend this book highly to anyone with an interest in the Kennedy years, the Cold War, CIA, Cuba and even the path to Vietnam. Splendid work! ( )

I never knew much about the Bay of Pigs other than it was a brief embarrassing attempt by the CIA to overthrow Castro. So I picked up this book based on the high reviews. The writing is fantastic, often humorous and novelistic, it goes by quickly. Along the way you learn a lot about Castro and how the US sort of created its own problem in Cuba. It's very much a series of bumbling mistakes and contingencies, the invasion should have never happened but there were so many miscommunications it's a great example of a bureaucracy out of control. I was surprised to learn how serious the repercussions were afterwards, it was like the Ur moment that started the Vietnam War; due to the failure in Cuba, Vietnam was seen as a way of saving face politically. It's good the Bay of Pigs never "succeeded", as the title Brilliant Disaster suggests, because instead of being bogged down in a protracted guerrilla war in Vietnam for decades it very well could have been Cuba instead (or in addition to). ( )

This is a good account of the Bay of Pigs operation. It provides a good overview of aerial opertaions, but has some of the usual errors describing aircraft that seem inevitable from mainstream historians. It is accurate on the timing and composition of the air missions, and has a good bibliography. ( )

I was born 10 years after the Bay of Pigs, so it has never been an important factor in my life. It is even more distant history than the American Revolution or the Civil War because those were taught in school. Because communisim has not been a threat to the United States during my adulthood, I've wondered for the last several years why we continue to have such a strained relationship with Cuba. I finally decided to educate myself.

I'm so glad that I selected Brilliant Disaster as my textbook. It gives an account of the Bay of Pigs that was both interesting and clear. This book does not require that you are a history professor, military expert, or politico to be able to really undersand what happend between the US and Cuba.

I still don't know why we continue to keep Cuba at a distance, but I certainly understand how it came about.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about this interesting time in our history. ( )