The Real Fidel Castro - Hardcover

Coltman, Leycester

3.98

184 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300101880 ISBN 13: 9780300101881

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2003

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Rhetoric during and after the Cold War years has painted starkly contrasting portraits of Cuba's Fidel Castro: an unblemished idealist on the one hand, a ruthless dictator on the other. This book, an intimate and dispassionate biography of the revolutionary leader, shows that neither assessment is true. Leycester Coltman, British ambassador to Cuba in the early 1990s, came as close to personal friendship with Castro as any foreigner was permitted. With frequent contact and regular conversations, Coltman was in a unique position to observe the dictator's personality in both public and private situations. Here he presents a close-up view of the man who for half a century has been loved, admired, feared, and hated, but seldom really understood. Coltman chronicles the events of the Cuban leader's extraordinary life from the political activism of his university days in Havana to periods of exile, imprisonment, and guerilla warfare alongside Che Guevara, to the uncertainties of his old age. Drawing on personal observation and archival sources in Cuba and abroad, Coltman explores the contradiction between the private character and the public reputation, and highlights the complexities of the consummate actor who continues to play a crucial role on the international stage.

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Review:

'....this book stands out as a very well written, balanced view by a trained observer and analyst' -- The Christian Democrat Press, August 2004

'an unusual insight into aspects of the revolution and US-Cuban relations' -- London Review of Books, August 19 2004

‘Meticulously researched and compiled...This book helps show why Castro was wrong...about so many fundamental truths of human existence.’ -- Justin Marozzi, Literary Review, October 2003

‘[Coltman] has produced a rare commodity – a balanced view of Castro...This book is very well-written and easily read’ -- Anthony Daniels, Sunday Telegraph, 19 October 2003

About the Author:

The late Sir Leycester Coltman was head of the Latin American Department of the British Foreign Office in the late 1980s and was British Ambassador to Cuba from 1991-94.

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