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Fidel: A Critical Portrait

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Tad Szulc (Author)
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Tad Szulc (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 15 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0380808885
ISBN-10: 0380808889
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 704 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial (February 8, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0380808889
  • ISBN-13: 978-0380808885
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.1 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #527,466 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsStill the best book on Castro.
By Jonathan D. Eckel on March 1, 2000
Format: Paperback
I first read this book over ten years ago, but have yet to find a better biography of Fidel Castro. The author, Tad Szulc, has known Fidel since 1959, when he covered the Cuban Revolution for the New York Times. He was given unprecedented access by the Cuban government, and by Castro personally, to conduct his research for this book. Szulc also interviewed countless people, both in Cuba and in the U.S., including friends, former friends, lifelong enemies, and acquaintances of the Cuban leader. The result is a fascinating and remarkably balanced look at the life of one of the world's most controversial statesmen.
The author has succeeded in giving us a three-dimensional view of Castro, both as a man and as a leader. One story of his youth that still stands out in my mind is how, while driving a tractor on his father's plantation, he attempted to rally the other field hands in order to demand better working conditions! There are many interesting and humorous anecdotes such as this throughout the entire book. It was a pleasure to read, overall, and did a great job of transporting me back to the places and times of Fidel's tumultuous life.
I only gave it four stars because it is somewhat dated, having been written in 1985. I wish it could have been updated to include Fidel's continued survival, against nearly all predictions, after the loss of his Soviet ally. However, a definitive biography of Castro will have to wait until after his retirement, and its judgement of him will hinge on Cuba's ability to remain a communist island in a capitalist sea.
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4.0 out of 5 starsVery good - but a bit outdated
By Thomas Søby on August 11, 2000
Format: Paperback
Tad Szulc has written the best book on Castro that I have ever read. There is no doubt that he has done a great job in interviewing Castro himself and a load of other people.
It is remarkable that the author has been allowed to get as close to Castro as is the case in this book - but there is still something missing about Castros childhood. But I guess that Castro hasn't been interested in telling that story.
The story about the Cuban revolution and Castro as leader under and after the fighting in the Sierra mountain is great, and I think that the reader is given a very varied picture of Castro.
One of the important themes in the book is Castro's communism. Is he a communist or a Fidelista? When did he became a communist (if ever)? And what was the reasons for Castro to turn out as he did? The author tries to answer the questions and it is obvious that Castro himself are not quite sure when and if he turned into a communist.
A lot of space is used to describe the relationship with the russians - and it is a great describtion with a lot of funny anecdotes.
It was a true pleasure reading the book but what i miss is two things: More about the childhood of Castro and I would really enjoy if the story about Castro was extended to go beyond the year 1985 - we simply need to know what has been going on after Gorbatjov and the loss of Cuba's most important ally.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThis is how every biography should be
By A Customer on March 10, 2004
Format: Paperback
This book contains all the ingredients a great biography should have: comprehensive research, an interesting character, balanced and insightful analysis, and very good writing. Tad Szulc deserves all the credit he can get for putting together a book that could be used in a class as an example of how to write a biography. To me, Fidel Castro was an obstinate idealist who wanted the best for his people and country before losing himself in wrong ideas and absolutism, but you can form your own (well informed) opinion after reading this extraordinary chronicle of his life.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe most objective book I have read on Fidel Castro
By Axel Rodriguez on January 21, 2006
Format: Paperback
As someone born and raised in revolutionary Cuba and now living in the US for some years, I have read a lot on these subjects .......and from both sides of the ideological and political divide. " Fidel: A Critical Portrait" is simply one of the best, considering the depth of his research and the objectivity of his analysis of not only Fidel Castro, but also of the Cuban history in the last 50 years. This book by Tad Szulc is ,in my opinion, a must for anyone interested in really understanding Cuba and the Cuban revolution as well as the historical background that allowed things to happen the way they have. Furthermore, this book sheds light in what forces might come in play once Fidel Castro dies and Cuba can have a brighter future and its rightful place in America.
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5.0 out of 5 starsSzluc's Critical Portrait of Castro
By Gus Venegas on May 22, 2010
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This is an excellent biography by journalist Tad Szulc that portrays the life of Fidel Castro from his childhood, his Havana University days, and as leader of the Cuban Revolution. The first two thirds of this 650+ page book covers Castro's activities before the triumph of the Revolution. The author makes the observation that Castro grew up in an area economically dominated by American businesses, a fact that may have planted a seed of resentment in the young impressionable Fidel. Several chapters cover Castro's initial planning and execution of his first military assault of the Batista dictatorship at the Moncada barracks in 1953. It is evident from the Moncada Manifesto and the make up of his troops that his political movement was of a democratic nature and called for the restoration of the 1940 constitution. The only evidence of communist indoctrination only seems to exist under the command of his brother Raul and that of Guevara in 1958. Once the Revolution triumphs in 1959, Szluc goes into a detailed account of how Castro manipulated the country politically, militarily, and economically into the Soviet Communist Bloc with a parallel government that operated behind the cover of the pro-democracy cabinet led by provisional President Urrutia, who resigned his post and went into exile by mid-1959 because of communist infiltration in the government. Of particular interest are the narrations on the 1959 agrarian reform, the Bay of Pigs, the Escambray rebellion, and the Missile Crisis. Not much material on Castro's political repression, his interventionism in Latin America and not much on his militarist adventures in Africa. I would enjoy the story about Castro more if it was extended to go beyond the year 1985 - after the fall of the Soviet Union.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Fidel is the man

Published 17 months ago by jorge santos
3.0 out of 5 starsPrint is too small to read,

Print is too small to read,

Published 17 months ago by Thomas P. Dengler
5.0 out of 5 starsGood picture of Fidel and the Cuban Revolution through 1985.

Generally balanced picture of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. Interesting discussion of his complex relations with the Cuban Communist party and of his relations with the... Read more

Published on April 2, 2013 by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsA Product of Its Time

- which was the Reagan era of 1985, the last "glory days" of the cold war when Fidel was still in his prime as Third World leader of the "socialist camp. Read more

Published on September 22, 2012 by R. L. Huff
4.0 out of 5 starsBiased

This tome presents an excellent view of Castro's past, his interests, and insights into a man I have admired throughout the years. Read more

Published on November 29, 2007 by Wade Chabassol
5.0 out of 5 starsA fascinating history

I have recently discovered a wonderful genre of historical reading: Cuban history! From Fidel Castro, and Jose Marti, to Che Guevara and Antonio Maceo, the history of the island is... Read more

Published on July 28, 2004 by Mark McGinty
3.0 out of 5 starsNot like "Che" by Jon Lee Anderson...

I thought that the Che biography by Jon Lee Anderson was awesome. It seemed very fact oriented and neutral. Very inspirational... Read more

Published on May 1, 2004
5.0 out of 5 starsFidel Castro

A biography worth to read with Frei Beto: Fidel & the religion

Published on May 14, 2003 by Julio Cesar
5.0 out of 5 starsObjective Report on Castro

This is a wonderfully written account of the Guerrilla expedition that brought Castro to power. It is an objective view of this amazing man. Read more

Published on July 11, 2002 by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFinally, an unbiased, critical biography!

As a critical political science student, I wanted to know what was all the hype about Castro. Yes, he is a communist, but is that all that makes him a "boogeyman" (if... Read more

Published on October 6, 2000 by Rene Gonzalez

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