Cuban Insurrection 1952-1959 [Paperback]

Ramon L. Bonachea (Author), Marta San Martin (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 450 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers (January 1, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878555765
• ISBN-13: 978-0878555765
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,361,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most complete source on War Against Batista in Cuba 1956-1958, July 15, 2008

By 

Laurence Daley (Corvallis, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cuban Insurrection 1952-1959 (Hardcover)

Bonachea, Ramon L. and Marta San Martín 1974 The last battle in The Cuban Insurrection, 1952-1959 Transaction Publishers ISBN-10 0878550747 ISBN-13 978-0878550746 page 300

This is still the most complete source on War Against Batista in Cuba 1956-1958 that I know of; although it misses much of the last phases of the war in Oriente Province (for that you will have to consult other works such as Daley,L (manuscript in progress) "Narrations of War in Cuba". A great source for details on this conflict, and unlike the Cuban government sources is even handed and factual. It also reads well, take for instance this excerpt found on page 300:


"Colonel Cornelio Rojas, who commanded the position, fought bravely with police and army officers and troops. Roberto Rodríguez ("El Vaquerito"), a rebel officer, died leading on assault. Colonel Rojas stood firmly against succeeding waves of attack by the rebels, and forced the guerrillas to fall back to re-organize their forces. Shortly afternoon, Colonel Rojas counterattacked and succeeded in pushing the rebels out of their positions, but then a rebel counterattack forced him to retreat. The house-to-house fighting forced his exhausted troops to return to the police station after they ran short of ammunition. Colonel Rojas issued orders to fight to the last man. The rebels made three more attempts to dislodge the colonel and were repulsed each time. Towards the end, the colonel and his men were surrounded by reinforcements from Guevara, the DR and the urban underground. Even though no help came from the army (the regular troops refused to leave the Leoncio Vidal Camp) colonel Rojas kept on fighting and was the last man captured, when he ran out of ammunition. Still, he escaped his escort momentarily, joining a group of police officers and trying to regroup other regular troops. He was surrounded again by rebels, captured, and placed under the custody of a full squad of rebel soldiers. Colonel Rojas was later summarily tried, and sentenced to die before a firing squad. Rojas asked and was granted permission to lead his execution squad, and his last words were, "Muchachos, now you have your Revolution, don't lose it."