Guerrilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro

by Georgie Anne Geyer

Book Overview

In this biography, Castro emerges as the betrayer of his own people, motivated partly by megalomania and also by extreme anti-Americanism. There are revelations about his personal life: his parents, wife, mistresses, children, and his colleagues in Cuba, the Soviet Union, and other nations.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316308935
• ISBN13: 9780316308939
• Release Date: February 1991
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 445 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Georgie Anne Geyer: Guerilla Prince

An excellent and easy to read biography of Fidel Castro: from his childhood to his rise to power in Cuba and the world stage. Geyer's analysis of the Castro persona is impressive. This book truly tells the real dictatorial, micromanaging, and egocentric personality of Fidel Castro, putting him up there with other dictators like Stalin, Mao and Kim Jong il. Many little known facts about the Cuban dictator are shown throughout the book, such as: Castro's attempt on the life of Leonel Gomez during his days as a student at the University of Havana, and his initial acts of supporting subversion in Panama and the Dominican Republic in 1959, starting his long career as a troublemaker in the Americas. She goes into the trial and harsh punishment of Camaguey province commander Hubert Matos (got 20 years for resigning his post as a protest for communist infiltration) and the mysterious disappearance of legendary commander Camilo Cienfuegos in late 1959. Geyer displays a clever analysis of Castro restructuring of the communist party to his own ends: total power in Cuba and the support of the Soviet Union. Most interesting is her analysis of the close relationship between the two Spanish Caudillos (Castro and Franco), their love of military tactics and strategy, and their shared hatred of the U.S. Her coverage of Castro's adventurism in other countries is comprehensive, from his sponsorship and training of thousands of foreign Marxist guerrillas and subversives in Cuba (which continues to this day) to his orchestration of communist takeovers in Angola and Nicaragua. Geyer's biography is a unique insight into the life of the man who will hopefully be the last Maoist Stalinist dictator in the Americas. A must read for Cuban Revolution junkies!

Very well written and argued

This is the best written biography of Fidel Castro. It covers almost all of his life focusing mostly on the political and military aspects. If you want to get a sense of society as a whole I would recommend reading Fidel Castro by Quirk but otherwise this is an excellent start to Castro's life. You could read this and feel that you have covered every relevant part of his life and then some. If you want to understand how Cuba was transformed into what it is today this is essential reading. Highly recommend.

the truth THE BEST BOOK ON CASTRO

Here is the true story of Castro, written largely from a foreign policy standpoint. This is not a story of the everyday man in Cuba(although we do learn that he suffered much economically). This is not an economic history of Castro's Cuba(Although we learn how much the economy declined and sugar production as well). This is the story of Castro's foreign flings and the cult of personality around him. We learn of Castro's invasions of a dozen countries in Africa, from Angola to the Congo. We learn equally of Castro's associations with his Latin American compatriots and his attempts to invade and infiltrate most of his neighbors. Those that love Castro and believe he created a socialist paradise in Cuba will not be happy with this book. Equally those wanting to learn the gruesome details of the many suppressed by Castro will also not be happy. This is a fair portrait of this larger then life Guerilla and the wrath he has brought upon the world. This is not a negative book that condemns Castro, in fact I find myself admiring him more after reading it. What one does have to ask themselves if they are an admirer of Castro is if he is truly loved by his people why are their no free elections? Why are other political parties outlawed in Cuba? Why are only government sponsored newspapers allowed? If Castro's socialism was such a paradise then why not let his own people write what they think of it, and say what they think, why murder your political rivals? Or banish them? It is so obvious that communism and all it brings is slavery to its own people, Cuba is a great example and this book tells all about Castro. The author could have done away with the investigation of the Kennedy murder because she reveals nothing new but pollutes many pages with theories.

And old man river, he just keeps rollin', along...

After seven years of exhaustive research Georgie Anne Geyer produced this 457 page book about Fidel Castro, one of the few remaining dinosaurs of the Marxist-Stalinist Cold War, Who still invokes communism as a governing policy. As readers of Casto's history are aware, he is at heart a murderous thug, the personification of that virulent alpha-chimp personage that can be found in every human society throughout history. His need to dominate and control his people supercedes any manifestation to the contrary putting him in the same category as a Hitler, Lenin or Stalin. Even a far-Left crank such as Noam Chomsky has averred that Cuba under Castro is a "Stalinist hellhole". Geyer follows Castro through his entire life weaveing a surprisingly fair and balanced tale of a man who, while worshipped by Leftists, is abhorred by freedom loving conservatives whose lifestyle choices center around the touchstone of individual liberty. It's a remarkable tale of a driven, machiavellian man who, borne of not inconsiderable bravery, assiduously fights for, gains, and builds a power base 90 miles off the coast of the U.S.A. The fact that he murders and jails his own accomplices, drives his remaining countrymen into menial poverty, and becomes a player on the world stage, is all documented in this terrific book (readers of Armando Valladare's book "Against All Hope", can seamlessly interweave both narratives to form a fuller picture of Castro). The sadness of this tale is that so few in America fully understand the cruelty of Castro and the murderous bent he shares with other, aforementioned, dictators of his ilk. The Elian Gonzalez saga was unfortunately made into a sideshow under the Clinton administration to the detriment of the truth. A more responsible press could have contrasted both sides of that issue. That so many in America are still blinkered by Socialism's promise, of delivering unmitigated prosperity to the masses, is partial testament to why Castro has remained in control of his island prison for over 40 years. That free elections in Cuba don't exist, that hundreds of thousands have risked and frequently lost their lives making the 90 mile passage across the Caribbean sea, seems not to deter the Leftist faithful from worshipping at their self-constructed altar of Fidel. It's just too familiar a totem for them to jettison. Geyer speaks Spanish, which helped when she interviewed Castro four different times. She also interviewed hundreds of other sources as part of her intensive research. It's made clear in this book that Castro's supporters fit the mindset in the song lyric penned by Paul Simon in "the Boxer" i.e. that a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. While Castro is a fascinating man by virtue of his political capabilities, many have been the plots to bring him down; and, to give him his due, he has survived them all well into his seventies. This is an excellent look behind the veil of a charismatic leader who has done his be

Excellent unauthorized biography

Geyer writes a well researched expose of one of the most enigmatic world figures of our times. Fidel Castro has been revealed. A must read for anyone who desires to understand modern history.