An archival journalist who reconstructed the Cold War's most dangerous crises
He recast the Cuban Missile Crisis not as a summit-room myth, but as an hour-by-hour crisis compounded by accidents.
Michael Dobbs is a British-born journalist and nonfiction author who reported from the front lines of the Cold War's end and other international conflicts. As a Washington Post correspondent and bureau chief in Eastern Europe, Paris, and Moscow, he chronicled the collapse of the socialist bloc and its international consequences. One Minute to Midnight cross-checked American, Soviet, and Cuban sources to reconstruct the Cuban Missile Crisis hour by hour, showing that the danger of nuclear war was far greater than familiar summit-room myths suggested. His method shifts attention from great-power leaders alone to commanders, civilians, and accidents that could magnify a crisis.
Career Timeline
- 1950Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
- 1972BA in Economics and Economic History, University of York
- 1974–1975Reuters correspondent in Rome
- 1977–1980Special correspondent in Belgrade, covering Tito's death and regional affairs
- 1980–1981Washington Post Eastern Europe bureau chief, reporting from the Gdańsk shipyard
- 1982–1986Washington Post Paris bureau chief
- 1988–1993Washington Post Moscow bureau chief
- 2008Published One Minute to Midnight