The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba's Bay of Pigs Book

Introduction: "The Bay of Pigs Thing" xi

Prologue: "Balls Were in the Air" Saturday, April 15, 1961 1

Part I Honeymoon April 15-October 26, 1959

1 "Viva Castro!" April 1959 11

2 "Point of No Return" Summer-Autumn 1959 26

Part II A Program of Covert Action November 3, 1959-January 19, 1961

3 "It's a Secret" November 1959-March 1960 39

4 "Program of Covert Action" December 1959-March 1960 47

5 "A Question of Propriety" 1954, 1960 57

6 "The End Justified the Means" May-August 1960 70

7 "Shock Action" Autumn 1960 86

8 "No Easy Matters" November 9, 1960-January 19, 1961 99

Part III Golden Interlude January 20-April 14, 1961

9 "A Grenade" Winter 1961 113

10 "A Stone Falling in Water" February 8-March 15, 1961 122

11 "Too Spectacular" March 1961 134

12 "Albatross" Late March-Early April 1961 146

13 "Infinite Trouble" April 5-April 11, 1961 164

14 "A Fanatical Urge to Begin" April 12-April 14, 1961 180

Part IV D-Day April 15-April 19, 1961

15 "This Is the Aggression" Saturday, April 15: D-2 189

16 "The Air Will Be Yours" Sunday, April 16: D-1 207

17 "There Goes the War" Monday, April 17: D-Day 227

18 "Sour Like You Wouldn't Believe" Tuesday, April 18: D+1 260

19 "The Loneliest Man" Wednesday, April 19: D+2 283

Part V Aftermath April 20-December 31, 1962

20 "The Way Things Are Going" April 20, 1961 313

21 "Defeat Is an Orphan" April 21, 1961 319

22 "No One Knows How Tough" Spring 1961 326

23 "Success Is What Succeeds" Late Spring 1961 333

24 "It Will Be a Cold Winter" Summer 1961-Winter 1962 346

25 "A Man Who Knows" Spring-Autumn 1962 356

26 "Abyss of Destruction" October 14-November 24, 1962 363

27 "There Are No Obstacles" Christmas 1962 368

Epilogue: "It Could Have Been Worse" 381

Acknowledgments 405

Notes 407

Bibliography 433

Index 443