For instance, had the Cuban Missile Crisis ultimately escalated beyond diplomatic solution, and the U.S government had turned to a first-strike as the necessary option, what would have occurred? What would the first move have been for the U.S, how quickly would response have come from the USSR, and what was likely to have been the end result?
Basically, I'm looking for a timeline of sorts, explaining what exactly would have occurred in the event of nuclear war during this time from both a strategic standpoint, and in terms of the ultimate results.
What you are asking for is the "order of battle" — obviously such things are speculative but one can, with some effort, line up the various forces and doctrines and come up with things that are at least plausible. Robert Norris has been doing this sort of thing for a long time in a professional context, working for the Federation of American Scientists; you might check out his Order of Battle for the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is to my knowledge the most up-to-date of such approaches, taking into account exactly what we currently know about the composition of forces of both sides.
There are so many variables on this one it is hard to answer, as there were various options at different times and the levels of technology changed dramatically on both sides, as nuclear weapons were miniaturised, bombers gave way to missiles, nuclear submarines were introduced. Also the theorising over best response and methods changed a lot over the same period.
If you're looking for the best single-volume work on this very complicated topic, and one that covers the whole Cold War, then i would recommend this book. If you really want to focus in on the strategic level around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, then this is a very good starting place.