Young Castro

January 1, 2019

The first American historian in a generation allowed access to the Castro archives in Havana, Harvard senior lecturer Hansen (Guantánamo: An American History) offers a new view of Fidel. With a 40,000-copy first printing.

May 1, 2019
A sympathetic portrait of the younger years of the quixotic Cuban "liberal nationalist." Hansen (Latin American History/Harvard Univ.; Guantánamo: An American History, 2011, etc.) underscores Fidel Castro's (1926-2016) rise in terms of Cuba's long, frustrating wait for emancipation from foreign powers. "When Cubans thought they had [independence] in their grasp in 1898," writes the author, "the United States snatched it away, inaugurating six decades of political and economic subservience that haunts Cuba to this day." Castro always had a larger vision in mind, from growing up the son of a "hardworking, serious, unaffectionate" farmer near Santiago de Cuba to his education next to the Havana elite and his immersion in the violent revolutionary push back of the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship. Castro believed that because of his "record of sacrifice" and unswerving dedication to the cause that he alone should be the legitimate leader of the revolutionary struggle. Hansen frames this story of young Castro around the letters the author was granted access to by the aged Naty Revuelta, a like-minded revolutionary who shared a two-year mostly epistolary affair with Castro while he was in prison after the attack on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba in July 1953. Sharpening his skills as a leader and envisioning a new government for Cuba, Castro needed books; in particular, he asked Revuelta for books on Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. Hansen emphasizes that Castro did not head to Cuba from exile in Mexico with his ragged band of revolutionaries in 1956 with the intention of engendering a communist regime--only later, because he was shunned by the U.S., did Castro make his alliance with the Soviet Union. Castro believed fervently that Cuba was ripe for revolution and emancipation, and in the disciplined, restless, and ultimately lucky Castro, the country found its leader at last. While the early period of Castro's life is not the most exciting, the details in the makeup of the man come together for an engaging, astute character study. A welcome addition to the literature of Castro and Cuba.

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May 13, 2019
Hansen (Guantánamo: An American History) consulted a wide array of Castro associates and the Castro archives to produce this skillful volume, which serves as a corrective to caricatures of the Cuban who was “a rarity in that he wanted for others the privileges that he enjoyed.” Hansen starts slowly with the life of Castro’s father, Ángel, a penniless Spanish immigrant who rose to modest wealth through hard work, before turning to Fidel’s youth and his work toward revolution While the early chapters can feel overfull of minutiae, they fulfill Hansen’s goal of conveying Castro’s character—charismatic, generous, headstrong, and complex. The narrative picks up—with courtroom drama and military action aplenty—as Castro becomes politically active, leading a failed assault on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba in 1953; endures months of imprisonment on the Isle of Pines; and leads the revolution to success in 1959 (despite interference from “the U.S. government appeared increasingly determined to bring Castro’s insurrection to a halt”). Quotes from family (including Fidel’s brother Raúl), friends, revolutionaries (such as Che Guevara), and rivals enrich the portrait. This is sure to become the standard on Castro’s early life. Illus. Agent: Wendy Strothman, the Strothman Agency.

May 1, 2019
Hansen brings imposing research and notable erudition to this account of Fidel Castro's early life. He also benefits from having been able to interview an old lover of Castro's, who gave him access to her papers. As a result, we learn much that we haven't known before about the privileged young man who became a revolutionary. Hansen shows that Castro's life as a student was notable for his superior intelligence (including a photographic memory), sympathetic relations with workers (since childhood), athleticism, and early charisma. As a student leader, Castro was drawn to the law and politics, though his early experience in these areas was orthodox. Interestingly, Hansen argues that it was the curious combination of personal charisma and remarkable organizational abilities that led Castro to hands-on leadership of revolutionary activity directed against Fulgencio Batista. Hansen follows Castro across many years, ending with the overthrow of the government in 1959. We are left still uncertain exactly how Castro turned from the liberal nationalist he was as a youth to what he became after 1959. Still, this is a gripping and edifying narrative.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)