Publisher's Synopsis
At the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Britain was AmericaÆs first-line defence, a vulnerable, but unsinkable æaircraft carrierÆ on which the United States based the Strategic Air CommandÆs first-strike elements of their AmericaÆs nuclear deterrent. The Strategic Air CommandÆs UK bases and the RAFÆs V-Force were ordered to the highest state of readiness at any time during the Cold War. Nuclear weapons were loaded, some nuclear-armed aircraft went on round-the-clock airborne patrol, others were held at cockpit readiness. But the British public was largely unaware that, as tensions rose thousands of miles away, the UK itself was under imminent threat of armageddon.
