Castro / Edition 3

by Sebastian Balfour

Overview

The story of Fidel Castro has few parallels in contemporary history. None of the outstanding Third World leaders of the twentieth-century played such a prominent and restless part on the international stage and none survived as head of state for as long. Over almost 50 years, he was one of the most controversial political figures in the world, and his legacy has yet to be fully evaluated. Some of his most cherished plans were realized and are a model for many Third World countries. Yet despite enormous sacrifices by Cubans, his grand vision remains unfulfilled and its continued pursuit is full of risks.

The fully revised third edition of this respected political biography provides the first full retrospect of Castro’s remarkable career right up to his illness and withdrawal from power in February 2008, incorporating analysis of:

• the renewed crackdown on dissidents in Cuba from the mid 1990s on
• the major geopolitical reconfiguration of Latin America in the late 1990s, and the new Cuban-Venezuelan relationship under Hugo Chavez
• the Helms Burton Act and the continuing US embargo
• The Cuban economy in the first decade of the new millennium

It also revisits earlier events in Castro’s career, for instance the various assassination plots against him , the Cuban missile crisis and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in the light of documents released by Cuba and the US over the past decade and a half.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781405873185
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/20/2008
Series:	Profiles In Power
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Balfour, Sebastian

Table of Contents

Prologue 1. Pictures of the Past, Visions of the Future 2. The Rebel 3. Rise to Power 4. Defying the Colossus 5. The Grand Illusion 6. The Revolutionary Godfather 7. The World Statesman 8. Straightening the Rudder 9. A Special Period 10. Autumn of the Revolutionary Patriarch Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

Reprint of a study in which Balfour (contemporary Spanish Studies, London School of Economics) traces Fidel Castro's path to power, from student leader to head of state. Taking account of recent world developments, he analyzes the historical conditions that enabled Castro to seize and maintain power; assesses Castro's charismatic appeal and use of the mass media; uses Castro's own words, letters and documents to explore his decades of rule and considers his economic record; talks to Cuban officials, writers, historians and journalists to look at the changing perception of Cubans about their leader; and shows how Cuba came to play an international role so disproportionate to the country's size and economic weight. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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