Cover image of "When Angels Wept," an alternate history of nuclear war

When Angels Wept is one of the most remarkable works of alternate history I’ve ever come across. A professional historian wrote this award-winning “What-If History of the Cuban Missile Crisis,” and it shows. Author Eric Swedin builds his story soundly on the historical record, which he knows in great detail as an expert on the 1962 missile crisis. His premise: that the distrust and misunderstanding that nearly led the US and the USSR to launch a nuclear war in 1962 actually did so. In effect, the book becomes an alternate history of nuclear war.

In fact, the first half of the novel is entirely factual except for a few passing references to “the Fire” that engulfs the world when things go awry in the nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union. And those of us who lived through that time are aware how very close it came to happening.

A reward for history buffs and SF fans alike

If you have even a casual interest in the events of the early 1960s, this book will reward you. Swedin’s account of the background to the Cuban Missile Crisis is full of insight and sometimes little-known facts about the key players in the story (Nikita Khrushchev, John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro). And if you’re a science fiction fan attracted to alternate history, you’ll find it rewarding, too. Swedin’s take on the tragic outcome of the crisis is illuminating in its own right. It’s clever, and it rings with authority.

When Angels Wept: A What-If History of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Eric G. Swedin (2010) 316 pages ★★★★★

Composite photo of the three principal figures in the Cuban Missile Crisis, all of whom figure in this alternate history of nuclear war
These are three of the principal actors in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Cuban President Fidel Castro. And US President John F. Kennedy. Image: American University

A chilling, cautionary tale

The bare facts of the Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct 16-29, 1962) are too well known and too easily discovered online to merit repeating here. And Swedin only gradually rewrites history in his account of what goes wrong. At first, it’s all pure history. He presents the major players as history knows them to have been, and he traces the on-again, off-again communications between Washington and Moscow. My only complaint is that I believe his portrayal of Premier Khrushchev leads readers to believe he had a more powerful hold on the ruling Presidium than he actually did. (There were hardline forces represented in the body who sometimes limited his options.) Then, one by one, he introduces new interpretations or distortions of the facts that eventually lead, in November 1962, to a devastating nuclear exchange between the two nations. It’s a chilling story.

Wonder why major powers have thousands of nuclear weapons?

Never before have I seen or heard a plausible explanation why any nation could possibly “need” thousands of nuclear weapons. In 1985, for example, the two superpowers together possessed more than 60,000 nukes! Even today, the two countries have more than 12,000. That sounds nuts, doesn’t it? After all, how many times can anyone contemplate using enough weapons to destroy all life on Earth many times over? But in the twisted logic of military planners, it makes sense, as Eric Swedin makes clear in When Angels Wept. Because the weapons are far from identical. Some are huge, some tiny. Some are sized and shaped to fit missile cones, artillery shells, submarines, underground silos, or the bays of long-range bombers. And some are tactical, some strategic—whatever that distinction might mean when it comes to nuclear weapons. Nuts? Of course it is. But now I understand the logic. It just doesn’t do much for my peace of mind.

About the author

Photo of Eric Swedin, author of this alternate history of nuclear war
Eric G. Swedin. Image: Storymakters Conference

Eric G. Swedin is a professor of history at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. He is the author of five novels, four works of nonfiction, and a book of essays. He was also a consultant on two documentaries about the Cuban Missile Crisis. When Angels Wept won the Sidewise Award in 2010, the top prize for alternate history.

For another, very different alternate history of the Cuban Missile Crisis, see Resurrection Day by Brendan DuBois (If the Cuban Missile Crisis had led to war).

You’ll find this book listed at Great alternate history novels.

For a speculative novel of a future nuclear war, see 2034: A Novel of the Next World War by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis (The Third World War breaks out in 2034, but not how you think). And, for a somewhat different take on the subject, see Never by Ken Follett (Is a new world war possible by accident?).

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