Customer Reviews

The Real Fidel Castro

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This book is a good, broad introduction to the life of Fidel Castro for a reader who does not want to get bogged down in ideological theories or put up with personal attacks on the man and l believe l am much the wiser reading this book.

There is a lot of nonsense written about Fidel Castro by the so called pro and anti Castro forces and this book does not fall into that trap. Coltman has produced an interesting, well balanced book about Castro which is full of sufficient detail and ideas to paint a fair portrait of the man.

Castro is a powerful, dominant man who insists he must always be right and usually gets his way and this fact was evident from his early childhood. He is a brilliant orator with a keenly developed sense of social justice as many incidents this book indicate. His achievement of free and accessible medical care and education for all Cubans is documented in this book.

Coltman does not hide that Castro is a dictator with little regard for free and open elections. He details Castro's use of Cuban troops in fighting civil wars in other countries.

Coltman makes insufficient mention however of the Cuban secret police and the crushing of internal dissent and he could have clarified and expanded on the role of his ruthless brother Raul Castro who has been central in this internal suppression.

Coltman has written a fun, water-color biography on Fidel Castro. Yes, there is a chronology of historical events that shaped the leader: his failed attack on the Moncada barracks, the U.S.-Soviet missle crisis, Cuban military assistance to Nicaragua and Angola, economic woes, and the Elian Gonzalez soap opera. But the good stuff is the gossipy diplo-circle comments, such as Fidel's response to a reporter's question about his eldest son Fidelito's "resignation" as head of Cuba's nuclear power program. "He didn't resign," Castro tells the journalist. "He was fired for incompetence! This isn't a monarchy." Castro haters get red-faced whenever anyone praises the man's candor, intelligence or humor, things that detract, in their minds, from the ruthless evil dictator he is supposed to be (read the much-praised "Waiting for Snow in Havana"). Coltman doesn't ignore any of the many charges leveled against Castro's strongman style of governing. Many sections of the book are built on episodes that brought Castro severe criticism. Thoughout this biography, however, we are shown the fiercely proud patriot -- proud of Cuba, proud of its campaign of revolution since its war of independence from Spain -- showing us Castro's point of view: why a firing squad is just punishment for a turncoat Army general, why dissidents receiving money from U.S. agencies that have ceaselessly fought his government are contemptible, why 'bourgeois elections' that never brought real democracy to Cuba -- and with a poor record throughout Latin America -- are a hollow promise. Coltman neither vilifies nor glorifies Fidel Castro. For many on both sides, this is unpardonable. For the other 99.9 percent of us, it's a true gift.

Several of the reviewers before me have been critical of this biography written by Leycester Coltman, yet I doubt if Fidel Castro himself wrote an autobiography we would gain any more information. This book portrays an honest outlook, without the propaganda or blatant dislike that usually goes along with mention of the infamous dictator. It is obvious to anyone who reads this (and nobody who has can deny the fact) that Mr. Coltman is incredibly thorough in his research, going to great pains to explain events. This is especially helpful to me, as a high school student, who hadn't much prior knowledge of Cuba and famous events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Those critical of his work confound me, especially a reviewer who wrote a review ON the reviewers. I wonder how this is possible, even plausible, as they admitted to not having read the book themselves. "Walk a mile in someone else's shoes"- well Leycester Coltman has certainly provided the pathway to doing so.

It is hard, writing the biography of one such individual as Fidel castro is. Wheter one likes it or not Fidel Castro is living history, and when dealing with history one has to be extremly careful not to stray too much from path that was laid before him.

Can there exist something what scould be called "true biography"? After all, if entire history is based upon the facts, doesn't that mean that many facts can form an unique and, most important of all, truthfull image of person or event? Indeed it would be so, if it weren't for tiny miscalculation in that plan. And that miscalculation is called - interpretation.

Who is Fidel Castro? Craving lunatic, dictator like Saddam, who kills his people for pure enjoyment in killing and destrucion? One of the last in line of romantical revolutionaires (if that expresseion can exist in reality at all) who would give life fot the thing the he believes is true? Is he a figure that fights the battle against globalisation and American imperialism or he is just old communist who was overrun by time, but still refuses to submit himself to murky shadows of time that has been.

Leycester Coltman, late diplomat on Cuba, tried to answer these questions. Did he succeed, it is hard to say. Starting his portrait from boyhood age, Coltman progresses towards the rise of guerilla leader, guerilla warfare in the mountains, numerous confrontations wit US, hopes and frustrations with SSSR, building his 'not-so-fictional-character' from scratches, presenting him as saviour of some kind (little exaggaration here) towards describing him as strayed from the "true" path and becoming "civic politician".

There are passages in which Coltman openly presents his admiration towards Fidel, and there are those where he swungs at him with all the might of british sarcasm, and sardonic humor. By doing this Coltman doesn't forget his main role, being a biographer, not gossip-maker.

In the vast sea of biographies and "critical overviews" of Fidel Castro Coltmans biographiy reads itself easily, though not being able to resist urge for comments, still it keeps itself on decent distance allowing the reader to form his own oppinion by consulting the facts that are presented in the book.

For all od you out there who are interested into political history of twentieth century this should be very inspiring book, one you should definitely read as a starting point for any further researches

Covered within these pages is the story of Castro's early life, the strong influence of a hard working and successful businessman father as a role model, growing up as the illegitimate son of a young woman that was a helper in the kitchen in the large Castro estates. Coltman provides the reader with other aspects of Fidel's life; the early law student days at the University of Havana looking for the political spotlight; the unsuccessful Moncada attack with pro-democracy youth after Batista's coup overthrowing the Republic; the subsequent trial, imprisonment and then exile; his return to fight guerilla warfare; the triumph of the Revolution in 1959; his secret alliance with the communists in early 1959; the trial and 20 year conviction of Commander Matos, who resigned his command to protest communist infiltration; the mysterious disappearance of legendary Commander Camilo Cienfuegos; the government takeover of Cuba's free market economy; the formation of the G2 secret police; the Bay of Pigs; the alliance with the Soviet Union and the Cuban Missile Crisis; Cuban revolutionary support activity for Angola and Nicaragua; the demise of the Soviet Union; Cuba's economic hardships under the Castro regime; and the shooting of two Hermanos al Rescate aircraft. This book is a good introduction to the life, rise to power, and totalitarian rule of Fidel Castro over Cuba.

This wonderful new account of Mr. Castro's life is full of the normal stories and anecdotes and gives an average account of his life, revealing nothing new but exposing nothing less. The real gem in this book is the nonchalant writing style, the narrative stride of the text and the up to date nature of the history which brings us to the present day. Covered within these pages are the typical story of Castro's early life, his exile to Mexico, his arrival aboard the Grandma in the Sierra Madre and his victory over Batista. Also covered are the typical stories of his government, the obsession with sugar, the forays into Latin America and Africa and the ever present `scandals' and persecutions of men like Padilla and Ochoa. A well written robust account of the life of Fidel and his Cuba. A superior account can be found in Guerilla Prince, especially for those interested in the foreign policy of the Fidel regime. Also of interest is the book Conflicting Missions. Nevertheless this new biography is commendable and worth the read.

I was born in Cuba and came to live in the USA when I was 8 years old. Rather than looking at Castro like Mephistopheles incarnated, I was always ambivalent about him. Of course, I wasn't born during the 1959 Revolution, nor did I suffer the untold number of tragic anecdotes we hear about these days-- yes, I also read 'Waiting for Snow in Havana' and I also sympathesize with that generation of Cubans because they are members of my own family. Which is why my thoughts on Castro always changed, though not my views about his policies. To me, he has done my harm to Cuba than every dictator that came before him, or probably will come after. I was never a communist and despite how I am able to romanticize his revolution (there's nothing romantic about it), I remember the repression of ideas, the jailing of people simply because of rumors or gossip, and the separations of families. As a historical figure, though, he is a complex figure, a result of the times that helped him to be raised from mere university thug to president to dictator. Have you read any of the stories written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez? such as the 'Autumn of the Patriarch'? If analyzed and studied carefully, the patriarch is none other than Castro himself-- a close friend of Marquez, too. That book, though fiction, has all the nuances, mental complexities and intellectual rigors of a man such as Fidel! I, myself in my own humble ways, wrote a book about returning to Cuba (Rediscovering Cuba: A Personal Memoir). The first draft of that book had a chapter on Fidel. In the final edition, though, it was gone. I personally excised that chapter because after untold number of drafts, Castro came out either a hero or a thug. Perhaps in the future, more revisionist biographies will be published on Castro and those will express more clearly my own questionings. Anyone interested in such? Perhaps I should write it myself!

This year marks the 54th anniversary of the Cuban July 26th movement, the 48th anniversary of the victory of the Cuban Revolution and the 40th anniversary of the execution of Ernesto `Che' Guevara by the Bolivian Army after the defeat of his guerilla forces and his capture in godforsaken rural Bolivia. I have reviewed the life of Che elsewhere in this space (see July archives, dated July 5, 2006). The Cuban Revolution stood for my generation, the Generation of '68, and, hopefully, will for later generations as a symbol of revolutionary intransigence against United States imperialism.

Thus, it is fitting to review a biography of Che's comrade and central leader of that revolution, Fidel Castro. Obviously, it is harder to evaluate the place in history of the disabled, but still living, Fidel than the iconic Che whose place is secured in the revolutionary pantheon. The choice of this biography reflected my desire to review a recent biography. As always one must accept that most Western biographers have various degrees of hostility to the Castro regime and the Cuban Revolution and one would expect that to be particularly true of one written by a former British Ambassador to Cuba (who has since died). After reading this biography I find that it gives a reasonable account of the highlights of Fidel's life thus far and for those not familiar with the Fidel saga a good place to start.

Let us be clear about two things. First, this writer has defended the Cuban revolution since its inception; initially under a liberal- democratic premise of the right of nations, especially applicable to small nations pressed up against the imperialist powers, to self-determination; later under the above-mentioned premise and also that it should be defended on socialist grounds, not my idea of socialism- the Bolshevik, 1917 kind- but as an anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist revolution nevertheless. That prospective continues to be this writer's position today.

Secondly, my conception of revolutionary strategy and thus of world politics has for a long time been far removed from Fidel Castro's (and Che's) strategy, which emphasized military victory by guerrilla forces in the countryside, rather than my position of mass action by the urban proletariat leading the rural masses. That said, despite those strategic political differences this militant can honor the Cuban Revolution as a symbol of a fight all anti-imperialist militants should defend.

The Ambassador obviously differs with my political prospective. Nevertheless he has informative things to say about the highlights of Fidel's career; the early student days struggling for political recognition; the initial fights against Batista; the famous but unsuccessful Moncada attack; the subsequent trial, imprisonment and then exile in Mexico; the return to Cuba and renewed fight under a central strategy of guerilla warfare in the Sierra Maestra rather than urban insurrection; the triumph over Batista in 1959; the struggle against American imperialist intervention and the nationalizations of much of Cuba's economy; the American sponsored Bay of Pigs; the rocky alliance with the Soviet Union and the Cuban Missile Crisis; the various ups and downs in the Cuban economy stemming from reliance on the monoculture of sugar; the various periods of Cuban international revolutionary support activity, including Angola and Nicaragua; the demise of the Soviet Union and the necessity of Cuba to go it alone along with its intendent hardships; and, various other events up until 2002.

There is plenty of material to start with and much to analyze. As mentioned before Che's place is secure and will be a legitimate symbol of rebellion for youth for a long time. Fidel, as a leader of state and a much more mainline Stalinist (although compared with various stodgy Soviet leaderships he must have seemed like their worst Trotsky nightmare) has a much less assured place. Alas, the old truism holds here - revolutionaries should not die in their beds

I found the other reviews quite interesting and insightful especially since I read them after reading this book. It is difficult for an American or Cuban to have an unbiased opinion on Fidel. That having been said, I found Coltman's look at Fidel to be an enjoyable read as well as candid in his depictions of his childhood.

Written by an appointee of Margaret Thatcher, this book is an outstanding and objective view of a man, like it or not, who will go down in history with the same reverence as is accorded to Simon Bolivar.

Coming from a decisively Thatcherite background, the author's commentary is neither distorted by the hysterical whiners in Miami nor is it merely pinko propaganda. Coltman devotes a chapter to each major phase of Castro's life, from his studies in Jesuit schools, to Congressional candidate, to revolutionary, to nuts and bolts senior statesman.

For those wondering how it was possible for just one lawyer like Fidel to go from possessing just 12 rifles after his men had been massacred after a catastrophic landing of his rebel ship Granma to a decisive victory over an army of tens of thousands, this book is for you.

For those of you wondering how it is possible for a country to increase its literacy rate in just one year from 66% to 97%, this book is for you. For those of you wondering how it is possible for a nation subjected to the most extreme blockade in human history, for forty years, to have an infant mortality rate 15% lower than that of the United States, this book is for you. (One clue: in Cuba, if an expectant mother misses a prenatal doctor appointment THE NEXT DAY her obstetrician visits her personally at home. Why can't we do this in the USA rather than gold-plating all of our nuclear weapons because they explode more evenly?)

If you wonder how it is possible for a nation subjected to an embargo more extreme than the embargo recently imposed upon Iraq to have zero homeless people (compared for example to 50,000 homeless veterans sleeping in squalor on USA streets every night, many of them highly decorated), this book is for you. As they say in Cuba, "Every night, 30 million children sleep on the street. Many of them live in the USA. None of them live in Cuba."

If you want an inside, balanced examination of how this is all possible, written by an appointee of the free-market heroine Margaret Thatcher, read this book... I go to the island twice yearly on licensed visits, fully authorized, and am thoroughly familiar with what is actually happening there.

Matthew