Yes,Tuchman's book is almost a good book to read simply to get a whiff of that era she wrote in, isn't it? A bit like Shirer's. Their own closeness to the emotions of the time add a useful element to the overall mosaic. They're not quite "in Cold Blood" yet historically-speaking.

Yes, and the amount of people that say they have an interest in the war because they read that book. I’m planning on running a course about sources etc and how to begin writing for yourself later this year

The legend always was the JFK had his advisors read it (supposedly to show how events can go from within human control one minute...to having a force all their own the next). If you can confirm or debunk that story let me know!

He certainly read it 1962 with several people mentioning it. Off the top of my head it's in RFK's memoirs: "I am not going to follow a course which will allow anyone to write a comparable book about this time, The Missiles of October," -

He said to me that Saturday night, October 26. "If anybody is around to write after this, they are going to understand that we made every effort to find peace and every effort to give our adversary room to move. I am not going to push the Russians an inch beyond what is necessary."

Thank you!