Sound Bite
Montaner does far more than report on history; he aims to provide a total synthesis, recounting the events, finding the roots and the causes, describing the psychological traits of the protagonists and drawing a critical assessment. He also commemorates dozens of Cubans who stood for their convictions under onerous conditions.
About the Author
Syndicated columnist and novelist Carlos Alberto Montaner is a frequent lecturer and part-time instructor at the University of Miami (FL), the University of Guatemala, and others. Born in Cuba, Montaner has lived in Madrid since 1970. Dozens of newspapers in the U.S., Spain and Latin American run his weekly column. He has published two books with Algora Publishing. His books in Spanish include Fidel Castro y la Revolución cubana, No Perdamos tambien el siglo XXI (Let's Not Lose the 21st Century Too), the novels Perromundo and Trama, and, in collaboration with Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza and Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Manual del perfecto idiota latinoamericano and Fabricantes de miseria.
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About the Book
What will happen when Fidel Castro dies?US-Cuban relations are entering a new era, and everyone is jockeying for position; even the US elections take note. "Elian" was just one episode in the propaganda wars. How does Castro's...
What will happen when Fidel Castro dies?US-Cuban relations are entering a new era, and everyone is jockeying for position; even the US elections take note. "Elian" was just one episode in the propaganda wars. How does Castro's mind work? How did he get into power, and how does he stay there? Who was the real Che Guevara? What was the Revolution really about? What went wrong ' and what went right? This book offers insights into all these questions, probing the heart of a passionate nation whose relations with the US are
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I. Portrait of the Young Fidel Castro 3 Childhood of a Caudillo 7. Gangsters
I. Portrait of the Young Fidel Castro 3 Childhood of a Caudillo 7. Gangsters and Revolutionaries 13. II. Setting the Scene 23 Natives, Liberals and Annexationists 26. Liberals and Independentistas 30. The Rebellious Republic 36. The Batistianos, theAutenticos and the Ortodoxos 42. III. The Insurrection 49 The Attack on Montada 52. Guevara, Guatemala and the Rise of Radicalism 59. From Mexico to the Sierra Maestra 62. The Opposition Gets Tough 68. Batista and the Norteamericanos 73. IV. Here's. . . Communism! 81 A Shadow Government 84. Was He Pushed, or Did he Jump? 86. The Firing Squad 89. The Destruction of Civil Society 93. The Anti-Communist Insurrection 97. The Opposition and Washington 100. The Bay of Pigs 105. From the Missile Crisis to Kennedy's Death 112. V. The Ends, the Means and the Achievements 119 'Worms,' Homosexuals and the New Man 124. The Anatomy of Terror 129. Death to the Intelligentsia 136. Raft People and Prostitutes 142. The Conquest of the Third World 146. Castroand Gorbachev 159. The Narco Revolution 161. Post-Communism 169. Dissidents and Civil Society 176. The Pope's Visit 183. The Achievements of the Revolution 186.
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Library Journal
[The book] synopsizes the life of Fidel Castro and the history of Cuba from the perspective of a Cuban exile. Montaner suggests that Castro is perhaps best understood by comparing him to a traditional Latin American caudillo, a 19th-century strongman who demanded total submission. Yet because Cuba developed differently, owing to the US influence, Cuba is significantly different from the rest of Latin America, a land whose 20th-century history made it susceptible to a leader like Castro.... Because the ideas are couched in the ideology of many Cuban exiles, this book will be of interest to libraries with a Cuban exile community in which English is the preferred language. Mark L. Grover, Brigham Young Univ. Lib., Provo, UT
BookNews
From his current home in Madrid, Cuban-born writer and journalist Montaner attempts a total synthesis of the Cuban revolution, recounting the history, finding the roots and the causes that explain it, describing the psychological traits of the protagonists, and drawing a critical assessment. Among other topics, he predicts what will happen when Castro is gone.
A Major Contribution to the Literature on Castro and His Revolution | More »
A Major Contribution to the Literature on Castro and His Revolution
Montaner, arguably the most distinguished Cuban exile intellectual and a resident of Madrid since 1970, has written a lucid psychological portrait of Fidel Castor, a close friend of Ernesto Montaner, the author’s father. Published in Spanish in 1999, the book provides personal insight not only into the Cuban leader’s larger-than-life personality — the 12-year-old Fidel wrote to Franklin Roosevelt asking the American president send him a ten dollar bill — but into the four-decades sweep of Castro’s Cuban revolution. A tongue-in-cheek epilogue, “The Day Fidel Castro Died,” offers a biting commentary on Castro’s hold over his inner circle and on the Cuban people, and the promise for a resurrection of Cuban freedom. Montaner makes a major contribution to the literature on Castro and his revolution. His book contains a useful bibliography but only two illustrations; one, on the back cover, is a rare photograph of Castro in 1955 looking somewhat like Errol Flynn. Highly recommended for general readers and specialists.
CHOICE Magazine November, 2001 (R.M. Levine, University of Miami).
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Pages 300
Year: 2001
LC Classification: F1788 .M66
Dewey code: 972.9106'4'092
BISAC: BIO000000
BISAC: HIS000000
Soft Cover
ISBN: 978-1-892941-61-9
Price: USD 22.95
Ebook
ISBN: 978-1-892941-36-7
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