For seven days in October 1962, the world held its breath. The Soviet Union and the United States were on the brink of a nuclear war. The two men in the center of the conflict, the Cuban Missile Crisis, were US president John F. Kennedy and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. Readers will discover what events led to the crisis, how it was resolved, and the aftermath for the two world leaders and their countries. Primary-source quotations and photographs of unfolding events increase readers’ suspense, while a timeline and bulleted facts present a comprehensible account of this important historic event.