Inside the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground

Julia Sweig, as a young grad student, traveled to Cuba and was given access to documents that no journalists, no academics, and no outsiders had ever been allowed to study. Meanwhile she obtained interviews with many of the most influential members of the 26th of July Movement and other revolutionary groups. With this information, Sweig compiled a book that is no less than revolutionary. The writing format is well-planned and easy to read, though a certain forehand knowledge of the Cuban Revolution is expected. Much of the history is based around hundreds of letters sent by M267 members within the organtization and to other members of the Civic Resistance. This is not an A-Z history of the Cuban Revolution. True to its name, this is the most profound INSIDE look at the Cuban Revolution that I've seen in my years of studying Cuba.

A very detailed search for the lost civilian underground of M-26-7, despite Mr. Betancourt's criticism. (She does not state he was a MEMBER of the Ortodoxo Party, and his dispatching to Washington by the Castro sisters is credited to Mario Llerena, who was in a position to know.)Mario Llerena also recounted, as M-26's public relations chief in exile, how he only met Castro once and spoke with him only one more time, via shortwave radio; proving that the scattered logistics of the Revolution made it physically impossible for Castro to micromanage many important developments, much as he would have liked to.Without doubt the assassination of Frank Pais and the crushing of the April '58 strike made it easier for the Sierra to consolidate power afterward, but to say that Fidel deliberately sabotaged the urban underground would have him shooting himself in the feet. There was no way he could know that Batista would fold in so rapidly and leave a power vacuum at the top. Castro needed his civilian supporters right up to the end.Although this book only marginally addresses the post-'59 followup, I'll add my 2 centavos in saying that much of the Communist vs. anti-Communist struggles that year were an ill-cloaked continuation of the Sierra/Llano feud, with Fidel struggling to break free of a liberal tutelage his victorious rebel army no longer needed.Sweig did a good job. Buy it. Read it. Learn.

My history professor at Princeton, where I'm a graduate student, raved about this book and called it one of the best books she's read in the past 20 years. I agree. I was blown away by Dr. Sweig's research and compelling narrative. Regardless of what you think of Castro - and I deeply oppose his totalitarian regime - you will learn things about the Cuban Revolution you never knew before. I can't understand some of the reviews below, and quite frankly I question them as coming from people with ideological axes to grind. I find that totally puzzling. The book is written with ZERO bias. It is a right-down-the-middle historical analysis that is fair to both sides in the Cuban debate... and believe me, I was looking for bias from the author, Dr. Sweig. Again, I am as staunchly anti-Castro as they come. I totally agree with the rave reviews of this book by people like Arthur Schlesinger and Ted Sorenson. It's a must read!

Julia Sweig is one of the world's leading experts on the politics of the Cuban Revolution and in this groundbreaking book she takes her readers on a voyage of discovery. Using secret documents from Fidel Castro's archives that no other scholars have been able to access, Sweig dismantles old myths about the Cuban revolution and gives readers the best overview of this complex process they are likely to get. It doesn't hurt that unlike so many academics she has a writing style that is clear and accessible. At a time when Latin America is once again seething with political unrest, this book is a timely and substantive contribution to understanding the politics and passions of a vital region.

With a long-time interest in Cuba specifically and in Latin America more generally, I had heard a tremendous buzz about Julia Sweig's new book. In the week since I bought it, I have not been able to put the book down. I just finished it tonight, savoring every word and every incredible historical detail. I don't know how Sweig got such access to the inner workings of Castro's revolution - but wow, did she ever. And the way she presents all this first-time information is riveting. Sweig has a reputation in foreign affairs as a budding superstar and I see why, from this book. An awe-inspiring work.