Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (2nd Edition)

Diane Vaughan, Boston College
"A page turner-the review of relevant literature is comprehensive, thoughtful, and original."

Richard K. Betts, Columbia University
"A lively updating of a classic, in many ways superior to the original."

Scott Sagan, Stanford University
"The revised edition updates both the theory and the history in a compelling manner. It is an impressive achievement."

Robert Jervis, Columbia University
"More than a revised edition, this is a new book, with the most recent empirical material and sophisticated theorizing. Important as it was, the original Essence of Decision now appears to have been a first draft; this version was worth waiting for."

Book Description
One of the most influential political science works written in the post World War II era, the original edition of Essence of Decision is a unique and fascinating examination of the pivotal event of the Cold War. Not simply revised, but completely re-written, the Second Edition of this classic text is a fresh reinterpretation of the theories and events surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis, incorporating all new information from the Kennedy tapes and recently de-classified Soviet files. The Second Edition refines the arguments presented in the original book in light of Graham Allison's experience as the Assistant Secretary of Defense and the founding Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The Second Edition also features a new co-author, Philip Zelikow, author of the best-selling and critically-acclaimed The Kennedy Tapes, which was published by Harvard University Press in 1997. Essence of Decision, Second Edition, is a vivid look at decision-making under pressure and is the only single volume work that attempts to answer the enduring question: how should citizens understand the actions of their government?


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Essence of Decision is both a vivid account of a crucial international event and a breakthrough in the application of organizational and political theory to events. Professor Allison analyzes the Cuban missile crisis in terms of three alternative frames of reference. By examining it first through one set of conceptual lenses, then through a second, and finally through a third, he explores some of the fundamental yet often unrecognized choices among the categories and assumptions that channel our thinking and thus influence our decisions and the outcomes in situations such as the missile crisis.


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