'1983' chronicles a Cold War-era narrow escape from nuclear war

Anyone with a passing knowledge of the Cold War is well aware of the Cuban missile crisis and the close brush with nuclear war that it created. But even those with detailed knowledge of US-Soviet relations may be unaware of another, equally dangerous event that could easily have led to a nuclear exchange.   

The second incident, known as “Able Archer 83," was sparked by a routine NATO military exercise. But, as writer Taylor Downing documents in a carefully-researched and absorbing book, it occurred when mistrust and suspicion between the superpowers was sky-high. Indeed, relations were so tense