West Side Story: April 1962

Welcome to the Timeline 10/27/62 prequel series COUNTDOWN TO WAR starting in October 1961 and concluding when the world goes mad during the last weekend in October 1962.

WEST SIDE STORY is the seventh of thirteen books in this series which will be released at monthly intervals between 27th October 2023 and 27th October 2024.

It is April 1962. In retrospect, historians make the mistake of assuming that at the time people were able to join up the dots the way they do years, decades later; as if everybody had perfect knowledge of everything that was going on around them in the world. It was ever thus; being all-knowing long after the event.

In the spring of 1962 the Cold War is already hot and the seeds of disaster are being sown, casually, careless day by day while most people just get on with living their lives.

The countdown to war continues, hastening all the while.

And now the clock has reached six minutes to midnight…

The countdown to war has reached seven minutes to midnight…