Book Description
This is a compelling behind-the-scenes account of the extraordinary Castro brothers and the impending dynastic succession of Fidel's younger brother Raul. Brian Latell, the CIA analyst who has followed Castro since the sixties, gives an unprecedented view into Fidel and Raul's remarkable relationship, revealing how they have collaborated in policy making, divided responsibilities, and resolved disagreements for more than forty years--a challenge to the notion that Fidel always acts alone. Latell has had more access to the brothers than anyone else in this country, and his briefs to the CIA informed much of U.S. policy. Based on his knowledge of Raul Castro, Latell makes projections on what kind of leader Raul would be and how the shift in power might influence U.S.-Cuban relations.
Customer Reviews:
Not much about Raul.......2007-09-09
This book is mostly about Fidel. There are only two chapters that hone in on Raul. Even Latell, who surely knows more than he could reveal in his own book, didn't reveal too much. He avoided the Bay of Pigs. He didn't say much about Cuba's interference in other Central and South American countries.
Still, it's a good read for laymen wanting to know the basics about Castro and Cuba. Who will take over the island once Fidel dies? Even Latell could only speculate, mentioning a few top ministers from the brothers' group (Raulistas).
Although I didn't gain much insight about Raul, I did learn interesting tidbits about Fidel: the entire clan were illigitimate. Fidel himself has his girlfriend (and their children) set aside. That both Fidel and Raul have a deep hidden side should be no surprise. After Fidel gave the reigns over to Raul in August 2006 there were rumors that Raul would be a ruthless dictator worse than his brother. That hasn't occurred.
Lots of insight.......2007-09-08
Excellent book. Well written and full of insight. Few have the depth and breadth of knowledge that Latell demonstrates in this book.
After Fidel badly written.......2007-03-14
After having read a number of books on Fidel, I found Latell's book badly written, and worse than that, full of conjecture. The other reviewers who claim that Latell is not biased are way off base. Latell's distaste for Fidel is evident on every page. He also borrows quotes from other books. If you want to read a good book about Fidel, one which Latell obviously borrowed from heavily but then added his own interpretations, read "Castro's Cuba, Cuba's Fidel".
AFTER FIDEL provides all the historical and psychological analysis needed for an informed consideration of modern Cuba's future........2006-12-11
AFTER FIDEL: THE INSIDE STORY OF CASTRO'S REGIME AND CUBA'S NEXT LEADER is an important assessment given Fidel's recent health issues: it provides both a political history of Fidel's regime, an analysis of his approach and impact, and new information on his brother, their family life, and how Raul is growing more powerful. In analyzing Fidel and Raul Castro's relationship and evolving influence on Cuban history and culture, AFTER FIDEL provides all the historical and psychological analysis needed for an informed consideration of modern Cuba's future.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
More Bio of Castro than Discussion of the Aftermath.......2006-09-04
This is a well written bio. No histronics, no preaching, no selling of a viewpoint. The author is a former CIA officer and current teacher of the Cuban Revolution at Columbia U. He credits his sources by name, noting each person's relation to the events, which is welcome for the layman. While the title implies that the book is about "After Fidel", this topic comprises less than 1/4 of the text. While to predict the future, you need to know the past, the subtitle works better.
Latell defines how Castro, through extraordinary intellect, a sensitivity to competition and a lack of moral restraint was able to take over a small island country and make it his fiefdom. He was a svengali to his brother, Raul, who's unacknowledged skills were necessary to Fidel's rise and continued dominance. Raul, like the rest of Cuba, is compelled for pyschological and practical reasons to cater to Fidel's paranoia.
Raul ascends to head the military by demonstrating his loyalty through leading ruthless prosecutions including that of a good friend and confidant... a popular and successful general... who's crime was to "dis" Fidel in a private conversation. Unlike Fidel, Raul has a modicum of conscience regarding this particular execution. Raul had been known to have shown some humanity at least once before, in visiting his father while the revolution expropriated the family homestead. Raul is not seen in public and the author says he's an alcoholic. If Fidel were to die today, w/could the 75 year old Raul be the Deng Xiaoping of Cuba?
The situation of Lina (Castro's mother) and her children (Fidel, Raul + 5 others) living in a shack while Angel (father) and his legal wife live in the comfortable "big house" is reminiscent of a pre-Civil War US plantation. Eventually the children are recognized by their father but, I presume, the psychological damage had been done.
Latell gives details of some things of which I was only vaguely aware. One was Casto's early obsession with "liberating" Puerto Rico. Another was the group of "non-aligned" nations, which through design Castro leads. Fidel and the entire organization are later sidelined by his necessary statement of alignment with the Soviet Union when it invaded Afganistan.
There are insights on the workings of international information systems. I didn't know that the lack of coordintion of the FBI and CIA was that FBI cases lead to criminal trials and CIA material, witnesses, etc. must be confidential. A Cuban mole, now in prison, provides information to Fidel, and disinformation to us, for 8 years. An anecdote about a mango tree illustrates, not only Fidel's inability to deal with criticism, but also how international information systems keep tabs on each other.
While there is little text on the eventual succession, I recommend this highly readable bio. I don't know how it measures up to the many other Fidel bios, but the author has an interesting and clear style. He is precise in his language and labels what is known and what is speculative.
Book Description
Havana . . . lilting rumbas, café con leche, sultry sea breezes. Sparkling white beaches by day, scintillating nightclubs after dark. This sophisticated, international capital was the crown jewel of an island paradise-until the idealism that fed the Cuban Revolution yielded a nightmare of soul-crushing dictatorship. Adios, Havana is a true account of romance and peril, adventure and patriotism. Fueled by love-love of family, of country, and of each other-a young couple must face the most wrenching of choices: remain in the country they cherish, lose the wealth and position their families strove for generations to attain, and watch their children grow up impoverished under a terrifying regime; or risk escaping with no money or possessions and leave behind all they have ever known to begin a new life in a strange land. A legacy to future generations, this memoir is intended to remind readers of the fragility of freedom . . . to describe the disintegration of a prosperous civilized society and offer counsel on how to prevent a similar catastrophe from happening in America . . . and to show how and why penniless refugees flourish in the land of the free-why anyone who resists oppression would be driven to tell his beloved homeland, Adios.
Customer Reviews:
Not literature.......2007-10-02
This book was recommended based on my Amazon reading and buying habits. Not sure why, though. It appears to be a self-published book...nice for the author's relatives or for people who fled Cuba. As literature, though, it just doesn't stack up. I'm disappointed that it was recommended via Amazon and will be more skeptical of those recommendations in the future.
Very Familiar.......2007-08-09
This book is a joy. Mr. Rodriguez' voice is loud and clear Cuban. In this book I reheard my mother's story. Thank You!!
An Inside look at Cuba.......2006-05-12
Before he and his wife flee Communist Cuba in the 60's for American freedom, the author paints vivid pictures of his beloved land and lifestye before and at the beginning of Castro's dictatorship.
Arriving in Miami, FL, they're eventually "adopted" by a Colorado church where they relocate to find housing and jobs. Because of their skills and eagerness to work hard, they become contributors to American society and earn US citizenship.
While the US is not perfect, this book helps me appreciate our various freedoms, and God's love expressed through good people. I recommend this book to those who take our democracy for granted.
~ Brenda Nixon, M.A.
Parenting Author, Expert, Speaker
A clear voice emerging.......2006-05-07
At a time when the Latin immigration experience is on everyone's mind and newspaper page, Andrew Rodriguez tells the story of his flight from Cuba in a clear, undecorated voice that rings true to the story. Immigrants come to America for many reasons, and Rodriguez tells a very personal story that might serve to educate a lot of people about why America is such a beacon.
Interested in Cuba and its people? . . . read this book........2006-02-26
Adios, Havana
Andrew J. Rodriguez
Outskirts Press
10940 S. Parker Rd - 515, Denver, CO USA
www.outskirtspress.com
ISBN: 1598000489, $14.95, 262 pp. 2005
I specialize in reviewing Print-On-Demand (POD) published books, primarily because many reviewers in the "traditional book reviewing community" are not interested in them-regardless of how well-written or engaging. There is a strong resistance within this community, and a POD author would be fortunate, indeed, to receive any acknowledgment to his/her query-they simply ignore you. This, I'm certain, will change in time . . . helped along by quality, well-written, and touching memoirs such as this one.
I quote from the back cover: "Adios, Havana is a true account of romance and peril, adventure and patriotism. Fueled by love-love of family, of country, and of each other-a young couple must face the most wrenching of choices: remain in the country they cherish, lose the wealth and position their families strove for generations to attain, and watch their children grow up impoverished under a terrifying regime; or risk escaping with no money or possessions and leave behind all they have ever know to begin a new life in a strange land.
A legacy to future generations, this memoir is intended to remind readers of the fragility of freedom . . . to describe the disintegration of a prosperous civilized society and offer counsel on how to prevent a similar catastrophe from happening in America . . . and to show how and why penniless refugees flourish in the land of the free-why anyone who resists oppression would be driven to tell his beloved homeland, Adios." I could not have said it better.
The extraordinary beauty of Cuba and the Cuban culture, prior to Castro, come to life through this book, as do the difficult decisions these successful families had to make and the realities of being Cuban refugees in Little Havana, USA. The generosity of the American people to help . . . also comes to life. Andy and Margarita's beautiful love story weaves its way through history and binds it all together.
This book is well-written, well-edited, compelling and sensitive. The author has an educated vocabulary, uses unique similes and metaphors, and is so kind as to translate the Spanish phrases he uses throughout. In addition to this memoir, Andrew J. Rodriquez has authored The Teleportation of an American Teenager.
Reviewer: Kaye Trout of Kaye Trout Book Reviews - Copyright 2006
Book Description
In the year that Fidel Castro turns eighty, this is a fresh look at his life from childhood, through his dramatic conquest of power, and his extraordinary, charismatic leadership of Cuba over forty-seven years?including sharply focused ?takes? on the guerrilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra, life with the Soviet Union, involvement in Third World politics, and survival in the face of the hostility of the United States just ninety miles away. The author has researched archives from Havana, London, Washington, and Madrid and conducted original interviews with Fidel Castro's contemporaries, in Cuba and throughout the world, that provide fascinating insights into his personality and achievements.
Customer Reviews:
Fidel Castro, el comandante.......2007-02-13
Dear John, believe it or not, Mr Castro is a brave man who will be in the history books forever. He's not an ordinary man and he made something happen. He's fighting against the U.S. empire, an admirable act in itself. On the other hand, Bush will be remembered but because of the bad decisions he made, both as president and as a person. Heck, Mr Hussein was better than Bush and will always be remembered, now as a martyr. Another person that comes to mind is President Hugo Chavez. Lastly, dictators? How do you call a "president" that goes against his own congress and imposes his will on his people? Perhaps you'd check the latest polls.
Neatly presented case for the defence........2007-02-09
In a bibliographical note at the end of his life in pictures of the `Maximum Leader' the controversial MP for London's Bethnal Green & Bow constituency notes the wealth of material on Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. As to why a further contribution to the already vast literature should be thought necessary, George Galloway states openly in his preface that he is `a partisan for Cuba, for its revolution, for its leadership, for its role in the world'. So in proclaiming his partisanship Galloway makes it clear that in this case there will be none of the biographer's customary distancing and objectivity. He describes briefly his own youthful political awakening and lifelong commitment to the socialist cause, and admits that his is no dispassionate `either-or' account of the Great Revolutionary's life. Fidel - the familiar first name is used throughout - is the living embodiment, his policies the practical realisation, of what the author holds sacred. By foregoing objectivity Galloway attempts to portray the man of flesh and blood, his human qualities, something on which he presumably feels previous biographers have laid insufficient emphasis.
The book's magazine-supplement style of layout and presentation distinguishes it from other more detailed accounts. Several quotations from Castro and other leading figures are highlighted in bold print, sometimes filling entire pages, while the many photographs, some previously unpublished, complement the various phases of a life of heroics and high drama told with a nice sense of pacing and proportion. The main points of an extraordinary epic are sketched from his childhood and family background through the first stirrings of revolutionary zeal, the assault on the Moncada Barracks, the meeting with Guevara and the consolidation of the 26th of July Movement before the final taking of power, the restructuring of Cuba against a background of US-instigated terror and assassination plots, the Missile Crisis, and Castro's role on the international stage as a champion of the Third World's cause. Aside from the main narrative are the contributions of six interviewees who are summoned, effectively, as witnesses for the defence.
Leader of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon notes how under Batista's rule the population as a whole had little trust in politicians, and the success of the revolution was down to Fidel's `uniting the people'. It was also down to his formidable skills as a military commander which Galloway prompts Ramiro Valdes, former Minister of the Interior, to elaborate on, while in the sphere of the arts Culture Minister Abel Prieto insists that their leader has no prejudices, not even against `decadent' western popular music! Some observations on the ever-present threat from the colossus of the north are made by Washington-based immigration lawyer Jose Pertierra and former US diplomat Wayne S Smith, the latter of whom resigned his post in protest at Reagan's deranged anti-Cuba policy. Pertierra, representing the Venezuelan Government, discusses the case of the vile Posada Carriles whose extradition to Venezuela from the US is currently sought in connection with the 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger plane off Barbados. According to Pertierra declassified CIA documents show that the US Government ignored the Agency's warnings about the known terrorist's intentions. On a more encouraging note those of us who support the cause may take some comfort from the lawyer's statement that Miami's extreme right-wing émigré clique do not wield as much power as they like to think, and that ultimately the US Government will negotiate with Cuba however noisy and hysterical the objections raised.
Cuba's offer of doctors and medical supplies following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina was predictably refused. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice (`Color Purple') Walker, the final interviewee, condemns the childish attitude of a US Administration that would rather bear old grudges than actually save lives. In fact throughout the book examples of Castro's magnanimity and forbearance are described which cast the enemy in a poor light. Despite the Bay of Pigs fiasco he acknowledged Kennedy's potential as an enlightened human being and politician, and thirty years later Clinton's hob-nobbing with some of Miami's worst elements provoked a similarly calm reaction. The routine demonisation omits to mention such details and nor does it explain why, even during the desperate economic slough of the early `90s, there was no `Ceausescu moment' for the supposed tyrant. (That there was no `Allende moment' either is explained by Castro's appointment of himself, post-'59, as Military Commander-in-Chief of the Rebel Armed Forces and the bringing to trial of the hard-core Batista remnant. On a visit to Chile in 1971 he is said to have had serious doubts about the newly elected president's naïve, ultimately fatal, belief in the army's neutrality.)
It will be said, with some justification, that Galloway stands so in awe of his subject that he inclines towards hagiolatry and therefore underplays some of the less palatable aspects of Castro's rule. For example, the proclamation in support of the Soviet clampdown during Czechoslovakia's `Prague Spring' is not mentioned, and the Stalinist persecution in 1970/71 of dissident poet Heberto Padilla, whose enforced, televised auto-denunciation was condemned at the time by Sartre and other prominent intellectuals, is passed over rather lightly. There are several sources which Galloway himself cites containing more information on these and other issues, for example Robert E Quirke's 800-odd page biography, an out-and-out hatchet job but of some value if read between the lines. Much preferred is ex-British ambassador to Cuba Leycester Coltman's balanced and generally sympathetic `The Real Fidel Castro'. I would personally also recommend Sheldon B. Liss' `Fidel Castro's Political and Social Thought' (Latin American Perspectives Series, No 13), a useful adjunct to Galloway's `Handbook' as it follows a similar partisan line although it does refer to the Czech events of '68 (and, incidentally, rules out of order Cuban `dissident' Armando Valladares whose fictions Quirke has swallowed hook, line and sinker.)
It is Galloway's contention, in effect, that history has indeed absolved Fidel Castro and is doing so once again with the `Axis of Good' partnership alongside President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Bolivia's Evo Morales. A recent piece in the conservative London `Spectator' (20/01/07) takes a very different view, but for those unacquainted with the facts of an extraordinary life and career this affectionate portrayal of the great survivor is as readable and engaging an introduction as any.
Book Description
El 13 de agosto el enigmatico dictador cumplirá sus 80 años en esta tierra. En
Fidel Castro: Biografía a dos voces, Igancio Ramonet, sociòlogo, teórico de cultura, periodista y una de las voces más representativas del movimiento altermundista, ha logrado desvelar —tras semanas de intensas conversaciones- las claves de la Revolución cubana a través de la biografía humana y política del último «monstruo sagrado» de la política internacional: el polémico Fidel Castro. Testimonio excepcional y análisis histórico, este libro es una auténtica «biografía a dos voces»: la memoria oral del comandante.
¿Cómo fue su infancia? ¿Dónde y cuándo se forjó el rebelde? ¿Cómo eran sus relaciones con Che Guevara? ¿Estuvo el mundo al borde de una guerra nuclear durante la llamada «crisis de los misiles»? ¿Cuántas veces han querido asesinarlo? ¿Qué impresión le causó el papa Juan Pablo II cuando visitó la isla en 1998? ¿Por qué crtica tanto a Felipe González y a José María Aznar mientras alaba la figura del rey Juan Carlos? ¿Qué piensa de la globalización neoliberal, de la guerra de Irak y del presidente Bush? ¿Por qué las autoridades cubanas arrestaron a unos setenta opositores no violentos en marzo de 2003 y aplicaron, ese mismo año la pena de muerte a los secuestrados de una lancha? ¿Existe corrupción en el régimen? ¿Es el socialismo en Cuba realmente «irreversible»? ¿Hacia dónde camina la política y la economía de la isal? ¿Que ocurrirá despues de Fidel Castro?
El exhaustivo cuestionario de Ignacio Ramonet —más de cien horas de entrevistas y de inéditas revelaciones- es al tiempo un recorrido apasionante por la controvertida figura de Fidel Castro y un formidable relato sobre el pasado, el presente y el provenir de la Revolución.
Customer Reviews:
Cuba through Fidel Castro's eyes.......2007-07-16
I appreciate very much the book, in original language. It gives the backstage of a big part of Cusa's hystory. The parts that I believed where the one's where Fidel Castro is remembering his life. When he was a children, in an ancient and poor country, where he had the oportunity to make bigger his natural instinct deploring the acts against the human right.
From this pages comes out a incredible part of Castro, made of sensibility, believe in equality, friendship. A complete different look on what we are used to know him.
Also all the Cuban's Revolucion comes out like a big and strong believe that peoples had to help the cubans to grow up and take his own identity.
Fidel , por delante y por los costados.......2007-03-11
Exhaustive and perhaps exhausting interview of Fidel. Fascinating questions in relation to salient issues of human rights and wrongs in Cuba. A rather astonishing intellectual dexterity in response to salient political concerns.
A truly remarkable work that allows for discerning skills and capacities of a knowledgeable and persistent political figure.
The accompanying DVD and what it reveals about childhood of Fidel and contemporary Cuba...so intriguing!
Un libro muy completo..........2007-02-20
"Fidel Castro:Biografia a dos voces" es un excelente libro que merece traduccion en ingles para aclarar dudas y prejuicios del publico americano sobre este controversial lider. A pesar de su avanzada edad y estado de salud, Fidel Castro presenta muy claramente todo evento desde la Revolucion Cubana, su relacion con el Che Guevara, y el presente y futuro de su pais. La conversacion entre el autor y Castro es presentada de manera que uno se siente que esta en el mismo cuarto con ellos durante la entrevista. Un libro muy entretenido.
Fascinating, Revelatory, Highly Enjoyable........2007-02-16
Let us hope that one day, even under the burning climate of the Bush regime, we will see "Fidel Castro: Biografia A Dos Voces," published in an English translation for those who do not speak Spanish. But for bilengual readers like myself, this is the best book available in a long time on the life and times of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. Ignacio Ramonet has done an amazing service by documenting in great detail through many hours of interviews the life, ideas and dreams of one of the most controversial, influential world leaders of the past century and the early years of this one. This should be the definitive book for anyone wanting a detailed analysis of what exactly are the ideas behind Fidel Castro and the revolution he ignited a half century ago. This is also a valuable book because it is the only real book on Castro that goes into Cuba's influence on today's Latin America and leaders such as Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales. Castro recounts in stunning detail Cuba's role in helping bring Chavez back to power after an illegal, U.S.-backed coup sponsored by Venezuela's rich elites and radical right ousted Chavez for 48 hours. Castro recounts how Chavez's daughter called Havana to report that her father had not resigned as the coup plotters reported, but was overthrown and held prisoner. It was Cuba that relayed the information to major media outlets so the world could know of the crime that had occurred in Venezuela against her elected government. Ramonet takes us through Castro's childhood to his days as a passionate law student beginning to join the liberation movement to free Cuba from foreign domination of it's resources, market and culture. There are wonderful moments of memory dealing with the Revolution and Castro's friendship with icon Che Guevara. For those suckered by Fox News propaganda, Castro here reminds us that Cuba was the first nation to condemn the September 11 terrorist attacks, and eventhough Castro is opposed to the war in Iraq, he concedes that Saddam Hussein was a thug and much of his attitudes contributed to opening the door for Bush's imperialist war. The picture we get here is not of some vicious tyrant as the radical right likes to paint anyone with different views, instead we get the thoughts and ideas of a world leader who has changed much of Latin American history forever. There is little the current Bush regime will be able to do to curve the rise of socialism in the Americas, "Fidel Castro: Biografia A Dos Voces" is a perfect information tool to know how those roots were planted and what socialism really means. Castro's mastery of language is impressive and his careful, detailed analysis of world leaders, events and policies is impressive. His words are worth reading, especially in these times when blind imperial rage threatens to distabalize the Middle East if not the world. Here is one of the best books to come out of the Spanish market in a long time.
Fidel Castro Biografia a dos voces.......2007-01-12
Excellent. I read the Spanish version. Is a book that you have to keep for future references!!
Average customer rating:
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Alina: memorias de la hija rebelde de Fidel Castro
Alina Fernández
Manufacturer: Plaza & Janes Editores
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Spanish
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biografías y memorias
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
No-Ficción
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
| Automotriz
| Ciencias Sociales
| Crimen y Criminales
| Educación
| Estudios de la Mujer
| Feriados
| Filosofía
| Gobierno
| Hechos Verídicos
| Planeamiento Urbano y Desarrollo
| Política
| Sucesos de Actualidad
| Transportación
ASIN: 8401010802 |
Book Description
La hija de Fidel en sus propias palabras. Un documento extraordinario, un testimonio de la vida compleja y llena de una mujer cubana de la era de la revolución.
Book Description
This dramatic story of how a New York Times reporter helped Castro come to power offers illuminating insight into the fraught history of Cuban-American relations and the precarious balance between truth and myth
In 1957, Herbert L. Matthews of the New York Times, then considered one of the premiere foreign correspondents of his time, tracked down Fidel Castro in Cuba's Sierra Maestra mountains and returned with what was considered the scoop of the century. His heroic portrayal of Castro, who was then believed dead, had a powerful effect on American perceptions of Cuba, both in and out of the government, and profoundly influenced the fall of the Batista regime. When Castro emerged as a Soviet-backed dictator, Matthews became a scapegoat; his paper turned on him, his career foundered, and he was accused of betraying his country.
In this fascinating book, New York Times reporter DePalma investigates the Matthews case to reveal how it contains the story not just of one newspaperman but of an age, not just how Castro came to power but how America determines who its enemies are. He re-creates the atmosphere of revolutionary Cuba and Cold War America, and clarifies the facts of Castro's ascension and political evolution from the many myths that have sprung up around them. Through a dramatic, ironic, in ways tragic story, The Man Who Invented Fidel offers provocative insights into Cuban politics, the Cuban-American relationship, and the many difficult balancing acts of responsible journalism.
Customer Reviews:
"Where exactly does the myth end, and truth begin?".......2007-09-25
It takes a lot of fortitude for a New York Times writer to tackle this subject, one certain to cast the Times in a less than shimmering light. Author Anthony DePalma notes that in his acknowledgments when he says that "Bill Keller, executive editor,...winced when he heard that I was writing about [Herbert L.] Matthews after so many unflattering books about the newspaper were being published but encouraged me anyway." What DePalma reveals - through some magnificent research and writing - is a situation far more complex than one reporter's "self-confessed passion for underdogs," which made him "easily won over by those he covered, regardless of their politics."
Matthews is pegged as the first of a long line of individuals taken in by Fidel Castro, who - as DePalma perfectly notes - "was capable of constantly reinventing himself and creating myths about his persona and his beliefs...he had become a political chameleon who could bedevil both friends and enemies."
DePalma's tour de force chapter is the penultimate one entitled "A Cordial Witness." I have passages flagged on almost every other page. One standout is this one: "Che understood the value of Matthews' bias from the outset, as had Castro, because both men were masters of propaganda and manipulators of image. They were far more perceptive in this regard than Matthews. They exploited Matthews' bias while he never accepted the notion that his writing had created a skewed picture of reality that, for a time, had become reality itself."
Mr. DePalma does a fantastic job synthesizing original material from the Matthews Library at Columbia University (Matthews kept every scrap of paper he had ever scribbled on), the New York Times files (which reveal deep concerns about Matthews' partisanship throughout his long career), FBI files about Matthews (DePalma filed a request under the Freedom of Information act), and recollections from Matthews' son and daughter which included the big surprise of a last unpublished manuscript - in longhand - in the possession of Priscilla Matthews.
This is an excellent book, surely the best I've read this year.
A Timely Look Back at Castro's Beginnings.......2007-03-20
Now that it seems likely Castro's regime is finally waltzing through its twilight years in Cuba, this book provides a timely look back at how it all started. It seems reports of his death were greatly exaggerated - back in 1957. That's the year he returned to the Oriente District of Cuba with the ragtag band of revolutionaries he had rallied to the cause of Cuban liberation. For months, everyone in Cuba assumed that he and his entire little brigade had been wiped out by Batista's soldiers as they patrolled that densely wooded part of Cuba's southern coast.
However this book isn't really about Castro. It's about Herbert Matthews, the New York Times reporter who hiked into those woods, got an interview with Castro, and brought out the news that Castro was actually alive and well. It's about how Castro made such an impression on Matthews during that brief interview, that Matthews forever after championed and defended Castro to the American public, denying all the growing suspicions that Castro might turn out to be, not a liberator, but a Communist dictator.
I had hoped that this book might shed some light on how Castro's presumed idealism (if indeed it ever existed) morphed into just another raw exercise of power. But there is no psychological analysis here. There isn't much insight into how yet another revolution turned into tyranny - other than DePalma's observations that Castro was always flexible, looking for the better chance to consolidate his power. You'll have to look to other books for deeper answers to why so many revolutions fail, if in fact such answers exist anywhere.
This book stays more exclusively with Matthews. It tracks his dogged belief in Castro's overall good intentions. And it follows the public's reaction to Matthews' reporting - from initial enthusiastic acceptance of Matthew's heroic view of Castro, to repudiation and even revilement.
DePalma's writing tends to be plain and reportorial, although he does get in the occasional telling turn-of-phrase - as for example when he compares Matthews to a piñata that so many delighted in bashing for America's failed forecasting of Castro's intentions. Generally though, DePalma just writes good clear sentences that make for easy reading. In a relatively short time, this book will arc you the whole way from Castro's rebel retreat, through the Bay of Pigs, and on to the more recent stand-off between the U.S. and Cuba.
the man who invented fidel.......2007-01-28
Found it to be a light and enjoyable read of Cuba of the Fifties and Sixties and the United States reactions to what was taking place there. Specifically Batista, Fidel, Revolution and Communism. The story about NY Times journalist Herbert Matthews and his relationship with Fidel, who Anthony DePalma uses to help you relive that experience make the story much more real then your normal run of the mill book on Fidel and his rise to power.
Fidelity to Truth.......2006-07-17
While many will buy this book to learn about Cuba and Castro, I think its greater value will be for those interested in journalism. How close can a reporter be to his or her source before bias surely intrudes? When does a reporter's decided notions of what ought to happen, prevent even-handed and clear reporting? How much backing--or control-- should be given an experienced reporter by a newspaper's editors?
To me, the story of Herbert L. Matthews is of current interest not because of what happened with Castro over fifty years ago--but of how it informs today's debate over current journalistic standards at The New York Times and other major media outlets.
Another example of dishonest reporting at the NYTimes .......2006-07-13
This is some good reporting about the facts associated with what Herb Matthews did to paint a phony picture of Castro for consumption in the USA during the height of the Cold War. There are many good details that show that Matthews really followed in the tradition of Walter Duranty who mislead the world about Stalin's mass murder of Ukrainians which was on an even greater scale than Hitler's treatment of Jews, Roma, and others during his attempt to conquer the world and rid it of non-Aryans.
The problem with this book is that Depalma gives Matthews way too much the benefit of the doubt when it comes to whether he was just naive, or if his political agenda, in a newsroom full of Communist sympathizers at the Times, led him to write fiction instead of honest reporting of Castro.
Matthews is one of many whose dishonest reporting should have made the Times fall by the wayside as many papers did all over the country, but when you have such deep pockets, and a politically driven leadership in a very liberal town, you don't need honest reporting when preaching to the liberal choir.
But in any event this is a good read as long as you recognize the editorializing vs. the reporting.
Book Description
Fidel exposes the hypocrisy of Castro's liberal fan club, delivering the brutal truth about the tyrant the Fidelistas call the first and greatest hero to appear in the world.
Customer Reviews:
Not all liberals are stupid .......2007-09-09
Just wanted to weigh in here as a liberal who also teaches Spanish.
I loved both books, the one on Che and this one. I teach my advanced students not to buy into the mythology of Motorcycle Diaries. We study Cuba and Latin America, and the history of dictators such as Peron and Pinochet. We study the Dirty War and students come away with a much better idea about these two men who somehow have become symbols of freedom or revolution instead of the oppressors they are.
So be careful of buying into the propoganda that all liberals love Che and Fidel.
Ask a Cuban!.......2007-05-15
Back in the early 80's I was a stupid liberal who believed the propaganda in the media (agitprop) regarding Fidel being a "benevolent" dictator after reading a glowing book extolling his many virtues and painting a picture of a utopian Cuba. When my Nicarguan and El Salvadoran immigrant friends vociferously disagreed with me, I read "Against All Hope" by Armando Valladeros, my first book on Communist dictatorsip, which shook me to the core. I began to question my preconceived notions and embarked on a journey through the rich genre of anti-Communist literature by those who actually LIVED under the brutal regimes--Nien Cheng, Haing Ngor and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, among others. Their stories are distressingly similar, harrowing and painful to read, about the malignant ideology which crushes the human spirit and justifies beatings, murder, incarceration, and all manner of evil while masquerading as good, just and humane. I also read books by American authors who had been Communists, had second thoughts and left the "progressive" faith: Collier and Horowitz, Whittaker Chambers, etc. These wonderful authors turned me around politically and philosophically, and helped me to start thinking critically. I now apologize to the Cuban people (and all the victims of Communist repression and genocide in the 20th Century) for my previous naivete, but in my defense I was young, Democrat and had tried hallucinogens and marijuana, all of which clouded my judgement back then. Plus, I used to believe Mike Wallace and the liberal media. Big mistake! For some reason they are vested in their "progressive" fantasies and do not let the truth disturb them...and they all seem to hate this country which has given them so much. Very sad.
"Fidel, Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant" by Herbert Fontova is a very important addition to this genre because it offers history, facts, and story after story by witness after witness, about Cuba, Che, Fidel, and many of the prominent American sycophants who toady up to this corrupt, murderous, barbaric dictator. Did you know Fidel is one of the world's richest men (Forbe's magazine) and a master of propaganda, having learned from the masters (Soviets). This is a bitingly funny, touching and comprehenive book. Fontova is clearly passionate about this subject, which to me makes this book even more enjoyable. It is sorely needed because Fidel is finally going to his just reward in the netherworld--and the Cuban people may finally get a reprieve after 50 years (a half century!) of suffering and countless deaths. What happens next--in the very near future--is history in the making. I will be watching closely, hoping and praying for Cuban freedom, for the USA and the rest of the free world, and to see how the liberals in Hollywood and the media react. Will they hysterically mourn his passing or finally TELL THE TRUTH about this monster? Their reactions will say more about them than Fidel. Who do you believe--a rich American who flies to Cuba on a private jet and has a "personal audience," with Fidel, sumptuous food and living accommodations for a few days--or the average Cuban who has actually lived the nightmare? It will be very illuminating, especially when the obituaries and books are written and hidden stories emerge, as they always do after the death of a tyrant...Can anyone now alive remember how sweet life was before the revolution?
Hooray for Humberto for having the guts to write this book.......2007-02-27
I love this book and cannot wait for Humberto's next book on Che. I find his information very well researched and reflective of his extensive and informed studies in Latin American History in which he has his Masters degree from Tulane University.
I am a first generation American. My mother left Cuba in 1960 at age 15 and she, like so many other Cuban exiles,have in fact been back to visit Cuba recently, and we have had several family members in Cuba visit and keep in touch.
Before Castro, Cuba was a very enlightened country. As indicated in Humberto's book, the per-capita income was high and the standards of living were high also. This was because Batista encouraged unionization and established a minimum wage in Cuba.
This did not go over well with the wealthy property owners or business owners. When Castro came about and promised reform, it was primarily the upper classes that supported him. They wanted to do away with the unions and minimum wage for their own economic gain.
The people that supported Castro were not the poor farm workers or laborors. The poor people opposed Castro as indicated in Humberto's book. They had more to gain by keeping Batista then they did by having Castro take over the country.
The Cuban people that backed Castro and Che were expecting socio-economic reform, not the political reform that was the end result.
I think more people should read this book. Hollywood glamorizes Che and Castro as heros that liberated the poor people of Cuba. Reading this book may help people to the realization that Castro and Che took this beautiful, tourist magnet of a country and turned it into a third world country that "not even Hatians" (per Humberto) ant to immigrate to.
Even more Miami lies.......2007-02-26
This author is incredibly biased and left Cuba when he was a child- too young to remember or understand anything. I don't know his family's story, but the truth is that most of the Miamians have never even been to Cuba and are 2nd and 3rd generation, and that the first wave of Cubans was not poor people on rafts- it was fascists who supported Batista, rich brothel and casino owners, mobsters, etc. Not a great crowd, to say the least. People love Fidel Castro throughout the world for a reason... check out "Fidel, the Untold Story" for a good documentary that gives the other side. I'm not saying Fidel hasn't done some bad things, but he's not even close to the Stalin that the liars in Miami paint him as. For all my anti-Communist sentiment, I have to say, this book is ridiculous. Anyone who actually believes that Cuba was better under Batista had better think twice about the sources they are hearing.
Correct? Maybe, but poorly written........2007-02-22
This is called a book, but written in the form of a blog. I was reading Fidel and instead of facts about the dictator or his rule, I was bombarded with a rant about the evil of the left and hollywood in America. Instead of true history this is a partisan rant.
Book Description
This is Che Guevara's last diary, compiled from the notebooks found in his knapsack when he was captured by the Bolivian army in October 1967 and subsequently executed. It is the basis of a new biopic directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Ocean's Eleven) starring Benicio del Toro as Che.
Now revised by Che's widow (who originally transcribed the diary), this is the definitive account of the attempt to spark a continent-wide revolution in Latin America.
The story of the publication of The Bolivian Diary is itself a remarkable saga. Initially published as extracts by the CIA in order to discredit Che's guerrilla movement and to justify mass arrests in Bolivia and elsewhere, it was also used in the trial of Regis Debray and to suggest a romance between Che and Tania (the subject of Ulises Estrada's book Tania: Undercover with Che Guevara in Bolivia, published by Ocean Press in spring 2005), who will be portrayed by Franka Potente (Run Lola Run, The Bourne Supremacy) in Soderbergh's movie.
Features of this new edition include an insightful preface by Che's eldest son Camilo Guevara; a range of new materials such as photos, maps, documents, and a glossary prepared in collaboration with the Che Guevara Studies Center (Havana); as well as memoirs by guerrillas who fought with Che in Bolivia.
The Soderbergh movie about Che Guevara will be based on two new Ocean Press fall 2005 titles: The Bolivian Diary and Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War.
Book Description
"Mommy, mommy, call him. Tell him to come here right away. I have so many things to tell him!"
I had a ton of things to tell him. I wanted him to find a solution to all the shortages of: clothes; of meat, so it would again be distributed through the ration books.
I also wanted to ask him to give our Christmas back. And to come live with us. I wanted to let him know how much we really needed him...
Fidel didn't answer my letter. I kept writing him letters from a sweet and well-behaved child, a brave but sad girl. Letters resembling those of a secret, spurned lover...
Customer Reviews:
Name calling, lies, and innuendo... AND very poorly written........2006-08-13
This book has zero credibility. Does she think the planet is stupid enough to believe this tripe?
And who got her out of Cuba? Armando Valladares, supposedly crippled in a Cuban prison and relegated to a wheelchair but after his release when the French press met him at the airport with a wheelchair he came bounding out of the plane walking without a problem. Then there was the fiasco of Valladares being the US's U.N. Human Rights Commission ambassador--he couldn't even speak the language of the country he represented--and who tried to strong arm other countries in voting for a Reagan/Bush resolution against the island, which failed.
Alina has had her share of problems--eating disorders, three failed marriages, disillusionment with the US, and as Wendy Gimbel points out in her book "Havana Dreams", Alina realized after a while the Miami exiles only wanted to use her in their sick 47 year vendetta against her father. Two years after her arrival in the US, she remarked to Gimbel "My father was right. The Cuban exiles are impossible."
Bottom line: not worth the paper it's printed on.
It's like Hitler's daughter bringing you inside Dachau.......2005-05-31
It's amazing how detailed Alina gets about her upbringing, her 'father' and the rollercoaster lifestyle she endured while living under her 'father's' reign. To get an idea of what Castro has done and what he is doing, especially to his offsprings is unreal. This is a book one can't put down. I don't think it had much publicity and it's underated.
Please, do you think we are that gullible?.......2005-02-25
This book is full of factual errors first of all. Second, according to spoiled, racist, elitist Alina... Fidel tells the sun when to rise and set. She makes the most outlandish claims in this book (not only about Fidel, but about everyone she mentions). According to her, Fidel had Camilo Cienfuegos killed (nevermind that his brother continues on as one of Fidel's inner circle), El Che was left to die on purpose (nevermind that El Che's family have remained close to Fidel as well), El Che's good-bye letters were forgeries (nevermind that at least one of them was made public WAY before El Che was killed). She also thinks Fidel was also responsible for the assasination of Salvador Allende (nevermind the friendship that Fidel maintained with his widow). According to her the fall of Noriega, the Shining Path and the Sandanistas was his personal doing and was all part of a deal he made with the CIA in return for the CIA covering up Cuba's cocaine trade.
Poor Alina, well you would feel sorry, but it is imposible after reading her mean and nasty comments about every single character in her story.
She admits toward the end that she was not aware that people in the "outside world" were making bundles airing thier family's dirty laundry until a publisher approached her about writing a "daddy dearest". Well, it appears that she decided to give it a try. It would be one thing if she told the truth..... but this book is a damn crime....
Maybe this is Alina's last ditch effort to get her daddy's attention. They say negative attention is better than none. This book is pathetic.
Sorry Fidel.
Vanity and Poor Writing Detract from the Intrigue.......2004-07-02
In this review, I will refrain from disgustingly regurgitating my experiences with and opinions of Cuba, Castro, and politics in general, and will provide a simple synopsis of the book. If you decide to purchase it, it will certainly evoke your own opinion of the aforementioned.
Alina Fernandez is a very poor writer who presumably has received enough fame to allow her book to be published by her nearly undeniable personal connection to Castro, the longest-reigning leader in modern Latin America. She spends the vast majority of the book explicating on her own personal battle with a variety of psychoses and mental illnesses.
The book's content is redeemed primarily by its usefulness in exposing the little talked about lifestyles of post-Revolutionary Cuba's "Rich and Famous." Fernandez sees herself as a debutante unfortunately stuck in the eternal ghetto of Havana and has little sympathy for her less fortunate countrymen. She spends pages disdaining poor country girls who come to Havana to study and reside in expropriated mansions in her neighborhood. She ridicules how, not knowing how to use a washing machine or a toilet, these "bumpkins" throw them out windows to decay on the front lawns of her once-stylish neighborhood.
This book is thoroughly wrought with poor writing and certain vanity, but its veritable glimpse into the disturbing life of Castro's daughter is admittedly appealing.
Look for commies to discredit this book.......2004-05-05
This is a great book, written by Fidel Castro's own daughter. Would you question her authenticity? I think not. Knowing the extent that the Cuban government's propaganda campaign will go to in order to discredit her, would you think that another reader named Cube could be spouting out the same rhetoric?
Cube, you are a bigger clown than Castro. You regurgitate the same excuses used on the island. Everyone knows that the United States is only 35% of the world's economy and Cuba trades with the rest of the world - do the math yourself. Everyone knows that the reason Cubans are starving is because all funds are diverted to exporting communism: in Colombia (FARC), in Venezuela (Hugo Chavez), in Brazil (Lula) in Nicaragua (Sandinistas), in El Salvador (FMLN), in Africa, in Vietnam, in Grenada, and in the United States (wasn't Lee Harvey Oswald distributing Pro-Castro leaflets just before Kennedy was assassinated?). The planes shot down in 1996 were flying in international waters looking for Cubans, like yourself, who chose to leave the island on a raft rather than live under this regime. You yourself live in Brazil - did you leave for a better life, or are you working for the Cuban government like your father? The percentages you quote ("95% of the population was starving, living in the streets, illiterate, poorly educated, had no job opportunity, etc. the other 5% lived in mansions, ate the finest food, bathed everyday, slept on a matress, etc") closely resemble what is presently happening in Cuba. Under Batista, the 5% represented wealthy land owners; under Castro, that 5% represents government officials.
Universal health care in Cuba translates to a lack of medical supplies - try and find gauze for your wounds or stitches for your surgery. Education is simply indoctrination. There exists no access to outside news agencies (the only news in Cuba is the official government news agency). Try and find a book written by George Orwell (himself an admitted socialist) or better yet, find a book by Ayn Rand. What a wonderful education system that jails individuals for up to 30 years simply for possessing books like these. In Oliver Stone's movie, Castro proudly states that "in Cuba, even our prostitutes have College Degrees." Ever wonder why someone with a college degree would have to turn to prostitution?
The true prostitutes in Cuba are those who relinquish their souls to this hateful ideology called 'communism.' It has failed everywhere, and Alina Fernandez provides an incredible insight into the results of this antiquated political system. The book is titled, "Castro's Daughter: An Exile's Memoir of Cuba," not "An Exile's Memoir of a Poor Father."
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