Osprey's examination of the events in the Bay of Pigs (1961) that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). In early 1961 President John F. Kennedy gave the go-ahead to an existing plan for Cuban exiles to return to overthrow Fidel Castro's communist regime. While the CIA helped in the planning stages, the attempt would not be assisted by any US armed forces. On the night of April 16, 1961, a force of 1,400 exiles, known as 2506 Brigade, landed at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast of Cuba, supported by a few World War II vintage aircraft flying from Nicaragua. While they succeeded in knocking out some of Castro's small air force on the ground, the remaining Cuban aircraft sank two of the exiles' support ships, and the beachhead became isolated. Fighting continued for three days before Castro's army overwhelmed the landing force. Most of the exiles were captured and suffered a harsh imprisonment before the US negotiated their release. This episode, followed by the installation of Soviet missiles in Cuba, led directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, and continues to affect US/Cuban diplomatic relations to this day. This book, written by the nephew of a surviving 2506 Brigade veteran, includes detailed color plates, unpublished photographs, and interviews with veterans.
The Bay of Pigs: Cuba 1961 (Elite)
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"Quesada provides all of this information in an easy-to-read format. He includes several photographs from private collections that have never been seen by the public. Also, illustrator Stephen Walsh includes some excellent illustrations that show the uniforms, insignia, and weapons of the combatants and some battle scenes... This book gives an excellent overview of the men who tried and failed to overthrow Fidel Castro in 1961." -Jeff Grim, Collected Miscellany - www.collectedmiscellany.com (July 2009)
About the Author
Alejandro de Quesada is a Florida-based military history writer, an experienced researcher and collector of militaria, photos and documents and runs an archive and historical consulting for museums as well as for films as a secondary business with a strong Military History content. He has written over 100 articles and over 25 books, including several for Osprey, and is a leading authority on Latin-American subjects.
Author of the following Osprey titles to date: The Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection; The US Home Front 1941-45; Roosevelt's Rough Riders; The Bay of Pigs; The Mexican Revolution; The United States Coast Guard during World War Two; Spanish Colonial Fortifications in North America.
Author of the following Osprey titles to date: The Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection; The US Home Front 1941-45; Roosevelt's Rough Riders; The Bay of Pigs; The Mexican Revolution; The United States Coast Guard during World War Two; Spanish Colonial Fortifications in North America.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good Narrative, but Graphics a bit Disappointing,
By
This review is from: The Bay of Pigs: Cuba 1961 (Elite) (Paperback)
For years, there were few decent English-language accounts about the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 beyond Peter Wyden's journalistic-style account in 1979. However, there have been a rash of new books about this subject since 2000, including this new volume in Osprey's Elite series. Overall, the narrative quality of this volume is both excellent and satisfying and even tries to maintain some balance between the viewpoints of the Fidelistas (troops backing Fidel Castro) and the brigadistas (the CIA-supported rebels). That being said, the graphic quality of this volume is a bit disappointing, with only one tiny map and relatively few color plates on the actual uniforms and weapons used by the combatants. Although Osprey titles are generally written for a military-interest audience, the military content of this volume was not as in-depth as most serious readers would prefer and while this volume would have been impressive if it had appeared in the 1980s, it has a great deal more competition now. Nevertheless, The Bay of Pigs is a good introduction to this subject and if you only want one book on it, this is a good bet.
The author begins with a 4-page introduction that outlines Fidel Castro's revolution in 1957-59 that ultimately seized power in Cuba and the repression of his regime that sparked resistance. He then spends 10 pages discussing the American desire to oust Castro and the CIA's role in creating a clandestine Cuban military force to overthrow Castro. Separate sections briefly describe the training of Assault Brigade 2506, as well as the air and naval components. This CIA operation has long been known to the world but the author manages to cover this well-trodden ground in style. He also juxtaposes the tactical-level training of the brigade in Guatemala with the high-level discussions in Washington between the President, the Joint Chiefs and the CIA about how best to use this tool. Although the idea of landing the brigade in Cuba appeared problematic under the best of circumstances, there was considerable pressure to "do something" before Castro received MiG fighters and more advanced weaponry from the Soviet Union that would make it impossible to remove his regime without overt U.S. military intervention. It is interesting how often in history that the "do something now" approach has often led to serious mistakes, with Bay of Pigs being a real whopper. Yet the author's main interest in telling the brigade's story and he proceeds to do that in nearly 30 pages. The tactical description of the battle around Red Beach and Blue Beach is very good, although there were several points where I had to wonder `why did they do that?' but without explanation from the author. One mistake that hurts this volume is that the section that describes the brigade's organization and equipment comes after the battle narrative, when it would have been more helpful to have that first. Thankfully, the author does not belabor the political issues that fall outside the scope of a volume that only seeks to describe a particular military unit - although he does make it clear that the brigade was doomed by President Kennedy's decision to withhold air support at a crucial moment. I was rather disappointed by the 8 pages of color plates, which spend one page on the brigade's training attire in Guatemala, another on what the brigadistas looked like after the battle (incl. an elderly gent in 2006) and a page of insignias. Only one plate depicts Brigadista ground troops in action (plus a paratrooper on another page) and two pages depict Castro's troops (incl. a Red Cross official). Given that this is a volume dedicated to the brigade and its combat actions, the actual graphic content afforded to it is disappointingly small. The last-minute order of battle stuck at the end of the volume is disappointing, since it offers no data on unit strengths, composition or sub-unit commanders. The author does provide information on how many vehicles the brigade had, but since the battalions had different compositions and missions, it would have been useful to spell this out. In particular, more effort could have been spent detailing the tank platoon's capabilities (5 M41s) and the heavy weapons battalion (apparently armed with four deuces, but not spelled out). After the brigade's surrender, the author covers their incarceration and release rather quickly, but then devotes space to discussing how some former brigadistas participated in other CIA operations in Africa. It would have been more interesting if he discussed how many brigadistas were able to evade capture after the Bay of Pigs, which was part of their original mission profile. Judged as a narrative history, this is a good volume, but as a unit history, the Bay of Pigs falls somewhat short in describing this unit.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bay of Pigs Revisited!,
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This review is from: The Bay of Pigs: Cuba 1961 (Elite) (Paperback)
Several dozen books have been written about the April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles, some topping out at almost 400 pages. In this Osprey 'Elite' series book, author Alejandro de Quesada offers up a 64-page account that works just fine as an overview of that disastrous undertaking.
THE BAY OF PIGS follows the ill-fated efforts by the Eisenhowever Administration/CIA to recruit and train a 1,500-man unit to help overthrow Castro's regime. Supported by a rag-tag air force and 'navy,' the 1,500 members of Brigade 2506 landed on 15 April 1961. Despite the brave efforts of unit personnel, by 19 April Castro's forces had defeated the invasion. In large part, the failure was due to changes in the landing site, cancellation of air strikes and lack of U.S. air cover and support. Author de Quesada, a nephew of a 2506 vet, does a good job of summarizing the initial planning, recruitment and training along with the actual invasion and its aftermath, which saw a fair number of Brigade members executed by Castro. Interwoven throughout the book are b&w and color photographs, maps and artwork depicting equipment, uniforms, flags and battle scenes. In short, if you are looking for a fairly brief but comprehensive and well-illustrated summary of the Bays of Pigs operation, de Quesada's book should fill the bill. Recommended.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Failed Mission to Overthrow Castro,
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This review is from: The Bay of Pigs: Cuba 1961 (Elite) (Paperback)
I was really excited when I saw this book. The Bay of Pigs incident has long been an interest for me and I can see the writer went to great lengths to bring this mysterious piece of history to life on these pages.
The color plates of the various armed forces of each side is carefully displayed on the glossy pages in addition to all of the important tidbits of information leading to the failed invasion of the Anti-Castro forces. It serves as a brief yet detailed look at why the Bay of Pigs invasion didnt succeed and the events leading up to it. This volume should serve as a welcome addition for any history fan's bookshelf.
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