almost armageddon

I regularly borrow a British publication called BBC History Magazine from our library system here. It's definitely not a scholarly journal and, instead, intended for general readers.

I find the articles fascinating. Many focus on British or European history but other parts of the world are regularly covered too, but to a lesser degree. I like how the pieces focus on lesser known aspects of history.

A recent issue included a shorter but fascinating article about five little-known incidents in post-World War II history where the planet came perilously close to all-out nuclear conflict.

Each of these incidents could make a thriller novel or movie or both, but I don't think the threat of nuclear annihiliation could be main element of jeopardy, because the audience will already know it didn't happen. But an urgent plot wrapped around a central character or two, playing out against the backdrop of the real event, could make a compelling story.

If you're interesting in history, click through to the article and have a read. I emailed a copy of this to my uncle, who is now in his early sixties and a major history buff, and asked if he had heard of any of the events at the time but he had not.