Fidel Castro is perhaps the most charismatic and controversial head of state in modern times. A dictatorial pariah to some, he has become a hero and inspiration for many of the world's poor, defiantly charting an independent and revolutionary path for Cuba over nearly half a century.

Numerous attempts have been made to get Castro to tell his own story. But only now, in the twilight of his years, has he been prepared to set out the details of his remarkable biography for the world to read. This book is nothing less than his living testament. As he told reporters, his desire to finish checking its text was the one thing that kept him going through his recent illness. He presented a copy of the book in its Spanish edition to his compadre President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

In these pages, Castro narrates a compelling chronicle that spans the harshness of his elementary school teachers; the early failures of the revolution; his intense comradeship with Che Guevara and their astonishing, against-all-odds victory over the dictator Batista; the Cuban perspective on the Bay of Pigs and the ensuing missile crisis; the active role of Cuba in African independence movements (especially its large military involvement in fighting apartheid South Africa in Angola); his relations with prominent public figures such as Boris Yeltsin, Pope John Paul II, and Saddam Hussein; and his dealings with no less than ten successive American presidents, from Eisenhower to George W. Bush.

Castro talks proudly of increasing life expectancy in Cuba (now longer than in the United States); of the half million students in Cuban universities; and of the training of seventy thousand Cuban doctors nearly half of whom work abroad, assisting the poor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He is confronted with a number of thorny issues, including democracy and human rights, discrimination toward homosexuals, and the continuing presence of the death penalty on Cuban statute books. Along the way he shares intimacies about more personal matters: the benevolent strictness of his father, his successful attempt to give up cigars, his love of Ernest Hemingway's novels, and his calculation that by not shaving he saves up to ten working days each year.

Drawing on more than one hundred hours of interviews with Ignacio Ramonet, a knowledgeable and trusted interlocutor, this spoken autobiography will stand as the definitive record of an extraordinary life lived in turbulent times.

The Biography includes a Preface by Cuban Commander Fidel Castro Frei Bettos roles as a revolutionary Christian, popular educator, social movement articulator, and journalist/writer provide insight into the political and religious history not only of Brazil, but of Cuba and former socialist countries of Eastern Europe. His lifepath is one of engagement with the revolutionary struggle against the Brazilian military dictatorship in favor of social transformation. His arrest in 1969 for coordinating the safe departure of political militants from Brazil, and his concern to eliminate hunger and suffering from the poorer classes, were strong credentials as he promoted dialogue between political bodies, the religious establishment and the population at large. Strongly influenced by the propositions of Liberation Theology, a defining thread of its activities was to seek an understanding, an accommodation, between Christianity and socialism. Friar Betto maintained close relations with former Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolutionary government, and wrote about how the internal dynamics of the Cuban religious universe could be applied to other countries and to different political circumstances. His writings on socialist countries, especially Paradise Lost, are aimed at promoting understanding on several levels: between the Church and the communists; between the military and politicians; between religious leaders and the people. Frei Bettos biography is an invitation to understand five decades of a personal pursuit of revolutionary ideals through the prism of religious tolerance and the pursuit of socialism. The Portuguese edition was a finalist in the biography section of Jabuti the prestigious national literary prize granted by the Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL).

The Biography includes a Preface by Cuban Commander Fidel Castro Frei Bettos roles as a revolutionary Christian, popular educator, social movement articulator, and journalist/writer provide insight into the political and religious history not only of Brazil, but of Cuba and former socialist countries of Eastern Europe. His lifepath is one of engagement with the revolutionary struggle against the Brazilian military dictatorship in favor of social transformation. His arrest in 1969 for coordinating the safe departure of political militants from Brazil, and his concern to eliminate hunger and suffering from the poorer classes, were strong credentials as he promoted dialogue between political bodies, the religious establishment and the population at large. Strongly influenced by the propositions of Liberation Theology, a defining thread of its activities was to seek an understanding, an accommodation, between Christianity and socialism. Friar Betto maintained close relations with former Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolutionary government, and wrote about how the internal dynamics of the Cuban religious universe could be applied to other countries and to different political circumstances. His writings on socialist countries, especially Paradise Lost, are aimed at promoting understanding on several levels: between the Church and the communists; between the military and politicians; between religious leaders and the people. Frei Bettos biography is an invitation to understand five decades of a personal pursuit of revolutionary ideals through the prism of religious tolerance and the pursuit of socialism. The Portuguese edition was a finalist in the biography section of Jabuti the prestigious national literary prize granted by the Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL).

Within a year after the triumphal entry into Havana at the beginning of 1959, Che Guevara began to set down the history of the guerrilla war. Fearful that the events would "dissolve into the past" and that an important part of the history of America would be lost, he urged other leaders of the Revolution to do the same, asking only "that the narrator be strictly truthful." His history of the war appeared episodically during the next few years in various Cuban periodicals such as Verde Olivo and Bohemia. In 1963, the Havana publishing house Ediciones Union collected nineteen episodes under the title Pasajes de la Guerra Revolucionaria. This volume, originally published in 1968, contains diagrams of several battles, photographs, and maps of the guerrilla itinerary in the Sierra Maestra. The introduction by Fidel Castro consists of the text of his speech in memory of Guevara at the Plaza de la Revolucion in 1967. "He wrote with the virtuosity of a master of our language," said Castro. "His narratives of the war are incomparable. The depth of his thinking is impressive. He never wrote about anything with less than extraordinary seriousness, with less than extraordinary profundity-and we have no doubt that some of his writings will pass on to posterity as classic documents of revolutionary thought."

Fidel in the Cuban Socialist Revolution makes accessible-and in some cases available in English for the first time-a selection of speeches and television appearances by Fidel Castro during the first two years of the Cuban Revolution. This extraordinary collection of documents allows readers to trace the evolution of this legendary leader's radical political thought as it pushes against and eventually overcomes adverse political and ideological circumstances faced by the newly formed socialist government. The pieces are organized chronologically, and each features an introduction prepared by Cuban experts Jose; Bell, Tania Caram and Delia Luisa Lopez.

Speaking together in Cuba in 1991, Mandela and Castro discuss the unique relationship and example of the struggles of the South African and Cuban peoples.

The acclaimed autobiography of Fidel Castro, one of the towering political figures of our age, who dominated both Cuba and the world stage for over half a century. Here Castro tells his story in full for the first time, speaking openly about everything from his parents and earliest influences to his imprisonment, guerrilla war and the Cuban revolution and on to the Bay of Pigs, the missile crisis and his relationship with Che Guevara. He also remembers the people he knew, from John F. Kennedy to Ernest Hemingway. Whatever your views on Castro are, this is an essential record of an incredible life - and even more extraordinary times. 'Cubaphiles are all the richer for this book ... Castro's prodigious gifts are well displayed: his formidable erudition, steely discipline, epic curiosity and his astute grasp of history' Financial Times 'Castro's life has been extraordinary and he can tell a good story' Evening Standard

Translation Of An Address By The Prime Minister Of Cuba, Dr. Fidel Castro, To The People Of Cuba At A Loyalty Rally, October 26, 1959.

Dr. Jeffrey M. Elliot and former Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally here contribute a lengthy, revealing interview with Cuban President Fidel Castro, discussing a wide-ranging series of topics dealing with local and international politics and economics, as well as the future of Cuba, the third world, Central and South America, and the United States.

Early in Ann Louise Bardach's Cuban voyage she came across Cartas de Presidio or The Prison Letters of Fidel Castro. Edited by Luis Conte Aguero, who was the recipient of most of these letters, they are cited in every important work from Hugh Thomas' opus Cuba to Tad Szulc's Fidel biography, and everything in between and since. These twenty-one letters (nine to Conte Aguero, six to his late sister and close collaborator, Lidia, one to his wife Mirta, one to his comrade in combat, Melba Hernandez letters, one to the great scholar Jorge Manach) are regarded as the single most valuable and revelatory document regarding Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. Never before published in English, these letters were written when Castro was imprisoned for his failed attack on the Moncada from 1953 to 1955 and reveal a man of spectacular ambition and steely determination. A man, who despite being incarcerated to serve a lengthy prison term, never wavers in his confidence that he will one day rule Cuba.

In response to the American administration's attempt to isolate Cuba, Fidel Castro delivered a series of speeches designed to radicalize Latin American society. As Latin America experiences more revolutions in Venezuela and Bolivia, and continues to upset America's plans for neo-liberal imperialism, renowned radical writer and activist Tariq Ali provides a searing analysis of the relevance of Castro's message for today.

A collection of Fidel Castro's chief statements-letters, articles, interviews, press releases, proclamations, and decrees-from the late 1940s to the fall of the Batista regime in 1959. Revolutionary Struggle 1947-1958: Volume 1 of the Selected Works of Fidel Castro is a comprehensive collection of Castro's chief statements-letters, articles, interviews, press releases, proclamations, and decrees-from the late 1940s to the fall of the Batista regime in 1959. An extensive editors' introduction places these statements in the context of both Castro's career and of the history of the Cuban revolutionary movement. A bibliography of Castro's works through 1958 is included as a tool for research.

Ten years before the financial crisis broke out in late 2008, Fidel Castro had said: 'There has been an accelerated and unbelievable growth in so-called hedge funds and the derivatives market. It is an additional system of speculative gambling, where the players bet anything and everything, based on sophisticated risk calculations generated by computers, high-level programmers and economic experts. They exploit insecurity and use the money in the banks' savings accounts. They have practically no restrictions, make huge profits and can provoke disasters'. This book shows Castro at his inimitable best, tracking developments as they unfold, using his enormous wisdom and sharp analytical faculties to unravel aspects of the biggest economic crisis to hit the capitalist world since the Great Depression of the 1930s.