Yes, Old Fidel did write this. No, he didn't sit down at his word processor and bash it out over a quiet weekend. It is a collection of Fidel's speeches, writings and interviews about Che. Some of them are very interesting. Some of them go on and on and on. This bloke can talk! It is hardly an intimate portrait, it doesn't reveal anything new, but it is still a worthwhile read - if only to highlight the relationship between Che and Fidel and the circumstances surrounding Che's disappearance from Cuba.

An intense and interesting look into Cuba's political sphere and also at Castro himself. Che Guevara is brought down from myth status and shown in a very human light. If only Che was still around...I know he would've solved that whole Elian Gonzalez episode...

i liked the fact that the author does not waste time. the book is a short and easy read. a good introduction to espionage in the third world. not much information on cuba or on why the author broke from communism. he and his wife just seemed to dislike the austerity of it all was all i could garner from the book. he made vague statements about broken promises and unfulfilled expectations. the book however is not primarily about cuba but about espionage. a pleasant enough read if you have the interest in the two subjects.

The author furnishes a first hand account of his experiences at the Bay of Pigs (on Castro's side) and details his career in the Cuban Intelligence Service from training through defection. He provides information on Cuban spy methodology and terminology, as well as glimpses into a brief period in the life of Che Guevara. It's a shame the author didn't share more anecdotes and make this book longer. Definitely an interesting read!

good book and easy to read.

Professor Carlos Moore, an Afro-Cuban of Barbadian and Jamaican origin gives an informed view of race relations in post-revolutionary Cuba.

Though not the usual made-in-Miami anti-Castro harangue, Professor Moore is harsh on Castro's ruling class and attempts to shatter many of the romanticized myths of the colour blind Revolution.

In fact, Moore argues that the Revolutionary leaders already imbued with their own prejudices and racialist values applied them in their dealings with Afro-Cubans. Professor Moore writes that the Revolution made no allowances for negritude and that it was policy to decry all attempts at African awareness and preservation of African culture and values.

Interestingly, Professor Moore argues that Castro's internationalist forays into Africa were self-serving. The writer perceives these as as attempts to placate the increasingly disaffected, disenchanted Afro Cubans and build third world solidarity to counterbalance isolation from the developed world.

Of interest also are the appendices to Castro, The Blacks and Africa. Scholars of race and the sociology of the Caribbean and Latin America discuss race issues and ethnology in Latin America. These appendices serve to underscore Professor Moore's premise that the Revolution did not attempt to solve the racial issues in Cuba.

Professor Carlos Moore's work is well written, with interesting photographs and makes for good reading. It also serves as a useful reference text not only on the Cuban Revolution, but also on race relations in the Caribbean and Latin America.

En 350 paginas Castro Caycedo nos muesta el interior del grupo guerrillista M-19 en su desaventura para conseguir armas de Europa. Es una historia de coraje sobre intellegencia y aunque el M-19 ya acabò como fuerza armada, creo que el libro se aplica iqualmente bien a las FARC y ELN de hoy. Para ellos que quieren comprender el conflicto en Colombia lo recommiendo.

Whether you agree with Castro's cuban revolution or not, the conversation between Thomas Borge and Fidel Castro is quite interesting.

There is no doubt that Borge has a lot of sympathy for the cuban revolution. And it might be because of that, that some of the necessary questions is not asked!

Questions about political prisoners is not discussed very much, homosexuality, religion and freedom of speech are subjects that are only discussed briefly.

Even with these critical points I find the book (and Castro) very interesting. It is quite amazing that he has been able to keep the society together even though the US has kept a blockade against Cuba for a long time now.

Castros views on the blockade and on the US and his analysis of the matters are precise and analytical.

All in all the book is good and even though it is one-eyed I don't think that it is any worse than most of the books with a negative view on the cuban revolution.

This book, describing Fidel's whole revolution from the beginning to the plateau, explains thouroughly both Fidel's accomplishments and failures.

Being extremely misunderstood by the general public, this book reveals only truth, as Matthews (an author from Ney York Times) gives precise information regarding Castro's beleifs.

Without accurately understanding what Fidel planned to result of his government, and what his priorities are for the future, the United States of America can not continue to ostracize the communistic nation of Cuba from international trade.

By reading this book, one will become enlightened with the facts, and understand the pain endured by both Cubans and Castro as well.

Fidel Castro...........a reat leadr person or a terrible person? That is to be decided. Well I can say that personally reading his biography I know that reading it would be a smart choice. It extremely goes in depth on the discussions of dictatorship and communism. "Fidel Castro" had fairly good detail. The book described his ivasions and hie rebellions. I recommend this book highly to anyone who has a deep interest in communism. John Gerassi can really capture that.

The Fish is Red is a compendium of CIA backed goings on in America's secret (and necessarily so) war against the Castro regime in Cuba up until the late 70's. Anyone of a mind to say the U.S. didn't try to dislodge the status quo in Cuba during those years will learn otherwise from a book whose publication was reportedly in jeopardy for conflicts with U.S. national security interests. Haitian coup attempts as well as "see bee ess" involvement are covered as well. Great read.(and true!)

Just another "evil America" book. The breathless revelations are old news, and the basic premise stems from the same old Castro-versus-Goliath shtick that got old when thinking people finally woke up from the "Sick-sties." Had this been written from the opposite point of view - an inside look at the campaign of unbridled hate, disinformation and hysteria put out by Castro's propaganda machine (of which this may very well be a part) - THEN it might be an interesting piece of work.

Jon Elliston's 'Psywar on Cuba' is a wonderful resource for anyone researching the US involvement in Cuba. Whilst it is perhaps lacking in enough narrative and giudance, it succeeds in bringing a wide range of sources together, such as media broadcasts and CIA declassified documents. It works well with Fabian Escalante's 'The Secret War'.

The US state's 40-year war against Cuba has included an unprecedented campaign of psychological warfare. This extremely useful book presents hundreds of newly declassified US Government documents detailing this psywar.

The US Joint Chiefs of Staff defined psywar as "Planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, or individuals." But the US state also targeted the American people. The campaign included rumour campaigns, posters, newspapers, books, comics, newsreels, leaflet drops, forgeries and radio and TV broadcasts. The usual US Government message was 'Castro betrayed the revolution'.

In March 1960, President Eisenhower approved a plan to overthrow Cuba's Government 'in such a manner as to avoid any appearance of US intervention.' Government representatives would describe any 'alleged CIA personnel' as 'soldiers of fortune working on their own'. The attack was based on 'the Guatemala scenario' when the CIA overthrew Arbenz's democratically elected Government in 1954.

The American people opposed a US armed intervention in Cuba by 65-24%. Nonetheless in November President Kennedy approved the attack, the 'top priority in the US government'. Jacqueline Kennedy visited refugee camps 'to demonstrate concern for civilian refugees, particularly parentless children'.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff produced a paper bluntly titled 'Pretexts to Justify United States Military Intervention in Cuba'. They planned a fabricated attack on the Guantanamo Bay base (like a fake attack triggering the invasion of Yugoslavia?). Also, "We could sink a boatload of Cubans enroute to Florida." We could "create an incident which will demonstrate convincingly that a Cuban aircraft has attacked and shot down a chartered civilian airliner enroute from the United States." In response, Cuba accepted Soviet weapons to defend itself; which Kennedy unblushingly called 'offensive'.

The US Government now uses these methods all over the world: never believe anything it, or NATO, says!