For over fifty years, CIA analyst Brian Latell tracked Fidel Castro relentlessly—getting to know his habits, his fears, and the passions that drove him. In this book, the master spy steps from the shadows to uncover the complex mind and motivations of one of the most mercurial, passionate, and dominating leaders of the twentieth century.
On trial in Santiago for leading a bloody assault on the city’s Moncada garrison, young revolutionary leader Fidel Castro uttered a phrase in court that would come to serve as a rallying cry for his 26th of July Movement and his regime thereafter: "History will absolve me." Despite the fact that his methods resulted in great loss of life on both sides, Castro never wavered in his belief that in the final reckoning his life’s work would be vindicated—his violence necessary in bringing a new government to Cuba and a new political model to the developing world.
For over fifty years, CIA analyst Brian Latell tracked Fidel Castro relentlessly—getting to know his habits, his fears, and the passions that drove him. In this book, the master spy steps from the shadows to paint a complex and nuanced portrait of the man he came to know better than any other intelligence target—revealing the mind and motivations of one of the most mercurial, passionate, and dominating leaders of the twentieth century.
Brian Latell
CIA analyst Dr. Brian Latell was assigned to Fidel Castro in the 1960s—and tracked the plans and actions of the unpredictable revolutionary leader for the next thirty-five years. As a Latin America specialist for the CIA and the National Intelligence Council for more than four decades, reaching a civilian four-star rank, he has served seven US presidents and won the CIA’s Distinguished Intelligence Medal. He is also the author of After Fidel: Raul Castro and the Future of Cuba’s Revolution, which has been published in eight languages around the world, as well as Castro’s Secret’s: Cuban Intelligence, the CIA, and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy.
