David gibsons talk at the brink is a stimulating and insightful contribution to scholarship on one of the single most important events in american history of t we use cookies to enhance your experience on our websiteby continuing to use our website you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Talk at the brinkis the first book to examine these historic audio recordings from a sociological perspective it reveals how conversational practices and dynamics shaped kennedys perception of the options available to him thereby influencing his decisions and ultimately the outcome of the crisis. In october 1962 the fate of the world hung on the american response to the discovery of soviet nuclear missile sites in cuba that response was informed by hours of discussions between john f kennedy and his top advisers what those advisers did not know was that president kennedy was secretly taping their talks providing future scholars with a rare inside look at high level political . Talk at the brink is the first book to examine these historic audio recordings from a sociological perspective it reveals how conversational practices and dynamics shaped kennedys perception of the options available to him thereby influencing his decisions and ultimately the outcome of the crisis david gibson looks not just at the positions taken by kennedy and his advisers but how those . Talk at the brink presents an image of kennedys response to the cuban missile crisis that is sharply at odds with previous scholarship and has important implications for our understanding of decision making deliberation social interaction and historical contingency