Fidel Castro: My Life A Spoken Autobiography

For decades people have tried to persuade the leader of the Cuban Revolution to tell his own story. But only now, after stepping down from almost fifty years in power, has Fidel Castro been prepared to set out the full detail of his autobiography. In these pages, he provides a "panoramic view" of his years in power (Los Angeles Times). Castro discusses his childhood and earliest influences; the unlikely beginnings of the revolution; his intense comradeship with Che Guevara; his perspective on the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis; the repeated dramas of Cuban migration to the United States; his dealings with ten successive presidents, from Eisenhower to George W. Bush; and his relationships with other storied statesmen, from Nikita Khrushchev to Hugo Chvez. Along the way, Castro tackles a number of controversial questions, including those dealing with human rights and freedom of the press in Cuba. Displaying a frankness that is often breathtaking, this book is nothing less than Castro's final testament, the definitive record of an extraordinary life lived in turbulent times. Book jacket.

Fidel Castro led Cuba from 1959 until February 2008. Ignacio Ramonet is the editor in chief of Le Monde diplomatique, the founder of Media Watch Global and a regular contributor to the Spanish daily El Pas. He lives in Spain.