Overview

For decades, people have tried to persuade the leader of the Cuban Revolution to tell his own life story. Ignacio Ramonet, the celebrated editor in chief of Le Monde diplomatique, has finally succeeded. For the first time, in a series of extensive and probing interviews, Fidel Castro describes his life from the 1950s to the present day. In frank and compelling detail, he discusses his parents and his childhood, his earliest influences, the beginnings of the revolution, his relationship with Che Guevara, the drama of the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Jimmy Carter years, Cuban migration to the United States, his dealings with successive American presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush, and his relationship with such controversial leaders as Saddam Hussein and Hugo Chavez. Along the way, Ramonet challenges Castro to discuss his views on a number of controversial questions, from human rights and freedom of the press to the repression of homosexuality and the survival of the death penalty in Cuba. This book will stand as the definitive record of an extraordinary life lived in turbulent times.

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9798200138623

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Reviews

"Todd McLaren and Patrick Lawlor skillfully hold our interest throughout, almost persuading us that we are actually hearing Castro and Ramonet speak. Highly recommended.-- ""Library Journal Starred Audio Review"" ""Castro's first attempt to tell his complete story provides an engaging perspective on the man and the world he helped shape."" -- ""Publishers Weekly"" ""Enormously fascinating"" -- ""Booklist (starred review)"" ""Todd McLaren and Patrick Lawlor skillfully hold our interest throughout, almost persuading us that we are actually hearing Castro and Ramonet speak. Highly recommended."" -- ""Library Journal (starred audio review)"""

Author Information

Fidel Castro is the former president of Cuba. He led the revolution overthrowing Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Shortly thereafter, he was sworn in as the prime minister of Cuba. He became first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in 1965 and led the transformation of Cuba into a one-party socialist republic. In 1976 he became president of the Council of State as well as of the Council of Ministers. He also holds the supreme military rank of comandante en jefe (commander in chief) of the Cuban armed forces. Ignacio Ramonet, a Spanish journalist and writer, has been the editor in chief of Le Monde diplomatique since 1991. An editorial published by Ramonet on December 1997 resulted in the launching of ATTAC. In addition, Ramonet is one of the founders of the nongovernmental organization Media Watch Global, of which he is currently president. Ramonet also frequently contributes to El Pais and participates in an advisory council to Telesur. Ramonet grew up in Tanger. He studied engineering in Bordeaux, Rabat, and Paris, and is now on the faculty of the �cole des Hautes �tudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. Todd McLaren, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, was involved in radio for more than twenty years in cities on both coasts, including Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He left broadcasting for a full-time career in voice acting, where he has been heard on more than five thousand television and radio commercials, as well as television promos; narrations for documentaries on such networks as A&E, Discovery, and the History Channel; and films, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Patrick Lawlor, an award-winning narrator, is also an accomplished stage actor, director, and combat choreographer. He has worked extensively off Broadway and has been an actor and stuntman in both film and television. He has been an Audie Award finalist multiple times and has garnered several AudioFile Earphones Awards, a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award, and many starred audio reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews.

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