List of Maps and Illustrations Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: History, Mythology, and Revolution 1. "Tactics in Politics and Tactics in Revolution Are Not the Same" 2. The Sierra Manifesto 3. "We Had to Act a Bit Dictatorially" 4. Defining Opposition Unity on the Ground 5. Fear and Loathing in Miami 6. Taming the Politiqueros in Exile 7. With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies? 8. Total War? 9. The Golden Age of the Llano 10. The Arms Race 11. Politics and Popular Insurrection 12. "Bordering on Chaos" 13. Picking up the Pieces 14. Unity: "Like a Magic Word" 15. The Pact of Caracas 16. Hasta La Victoria! Epilogue: Transitions Then and Now About the Research Notes Bibliography Index
After so many books on the Cuban Revolution, it might seem impossible to shed new light on one of the key moments in the twentieth century. Yet Julia Sweig manages to do so in this remarkable tour de force. Using documents only recently made available to her by the Cuban authorities, she challenges several myths about the nature of the Cuban Revolution and in the process provides a nuanced and very readable account of the rise to power of Fidel Castro. -- Victor Bulmer-Thomas, Director, Royal Institute of International Affairs Inside the Cuban Revolution confirms what many had long suspected: the 'official story' of twelve bearded, daring guerrillas bringing down a hideous dictatorship never happened. Without the urban underground there would have been no victory. In this important book, Julia Sweig sets the record straight and raises fundamental questions about revolutionary movements in Latin America since 1959. -- Jorge G. Castaneda, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mexico This book is both compelling and groundbreaking. It seamlessly combines great storytelling, investigative journalism, and first-rate analysis in a work that scholars and policymakers--indeed, anyone interested in Cuba--will find must reading. With Inside the Cuban Revolution Julia Sweig guarantees the world will never look at Cuba or Fidel Castro the same way again. -- Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Chair, Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, Committee on Foreign Relations With meticulous research, presented in a dramatic narrative, Julia Sweig provides the real story behind the Cuban Revolution and Castro's rise to power, showing that his ascendancy was due to far more than the popular conception of a small band of guerrilla fighters toppling a corrupt regime. It is a portrait of Castro as we've never seen him. Inside the Cuban Revolution, which sheds new light on the last time there was a transition of power in Cuba, may very well give us clues to the next one. -- Congressman Charles B. Rangel In this brilliantly researched tour de force, Julia Sweig adds a new dimension to our understanding of the way Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba. -- Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Julia E. Sweig is Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Latin America Program at the Council on Foreign Relations.
After so many books on the Cuban Revolution, it might seem
impossible to shed new light on one of the key moments in the
twentieth century. Yet Julia Sweig manages to do so in this
remarkable tour de force. Using documents only recently made
available to her by the Cuban authorities, she challenges several
myths about the nature of the Cuban Revolution and in the process
provides a nuanced and very readable account of the rise to power
of Fidel Castro.
*Victor Bulmer-Thomas, Director, Royal Institute of International
Affairs*
Inside the Cuban Revolution confirms what many had long suspected:
the 'official story' of twelve bearded, daring guerrillas bringing
down a hideous dictatorship never happened. Without the urban
underground there would have been no victory. In this important
book, Julia Sweig sets the record straight and raises fundamental
questions about revolutionary movements in Latin America since
1959.
*Jorge G. Castañeda, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mexico*
This book is both compelling and groundbreaking. It seamlessly
combines great storytelling, investigative journalism, and
first-rate analysis in a work that scholars and
policymakers--indeed, anyone interested in Cuba--will find must
reading. With Inside the Cuban Revolution Julia Sweig guarantees
the world will never look at Cuba or Fidel Castro the same way
again.
*Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Chair, Western Hemisphere
Subcommittee, Committee on Foreign Relations*
With meticulous research, presented in a dramatic narrative, Julia
Sweig provides the real story behind the Cuban Revolution and
Castro's rise to power, showing that his ascendancy was due to far
more than the popular conception of a small band of guerrilla
fighters toppling a corrupt regime. It is a portrait of Castro as
we've never seen him. Inside the Cuban Revolution, which sheds new
light on the last time there was a transition of power in Cuba, may
very well give us clues to the next one.
*Congressman Charles B. Rangel*
In this brilliantly researched tour de force, Julia Sweig adds a
new dimension to our understanding of the way Fidel Castro came to
power in Cuba.
*Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.*
Using original documentary sources from Cuban government archives,
Sweig shows how the largely middle-class Cubans in the urban
underground laid the groundwork for Castro's Rebel Army
victory...Sweig claims that the full history of the revolution has
yet to be written, but her book makes an impressive contribution to
this effort by painting a new and more realistic picture of the
process that produced Castro's Cuba.
*Foreign Affairs*
The recent opening of Cuban historical archives to non-Cuban
scholars has changed traditionally accepted views of the Cuban
revolution of 1959. Using documents housed in the Cuban Council of
State's Office of Historic Affairs, Sweig...argues that in its
early days the revolution was influenced more by the Cuban middle
class and less by Fidel Castor or Che Guevara than historians have
suggested...By giving this period context and highlighting its
importance, Sweig shows that all the elements of the revolution
were in place prior to 1959...[It is] convincingly argued and now
backed by documentary evidence. A valuable discussion.
*Library Journal*
Julia Sweig has written a carefully crafted account of the urban
underground campaign against Fulgencio Batista, the dictator
toppled from power in 1959. The main interest of the book is that
it is primarily based on original interviews and previously
inaccessible records of the 26th July Movement--the revolutionary
nationalist organization created by Castro.
*Financial Times*
In a thoughtfully argued and carefully researched book,
Sweig…provides what will almost certainly be the standard account
of the Cuban insurrection for years to come. Using a wide range of
archival records and manuscript sources, including important Cuban
materials, Sweig successfully explores the complex and often
contradictory relations between the llano and the sierra. She pays
attention more to similarities than to differences and, by
emphasizing collaboration and coordination, provides a coherent and
cogent explanation of the astonishing success of Castro’s movement.
Keenly aware of the larger historical context which gives her tale
meaning, Sweig shows how Castro held together the disparate
elements of his often-fractious movement while providing
considerable insight into his personality and the politics that
often divided his followers.
*Los Angeles Times Book Review*
Julia Sweig's book, the result of eight years of research with
access to newly declassified documents, exposes the myth that the
Cuban revolution was imposed by a dozen middle-class, bearded
rebels in the mountains and challenges three pieces of conventional
wisdom...This book is vital for anyone interested in understanding
the Cuban revolution, and it destroys the arguments of those
British Trotskyists who deny its working class character.
*Fight Racism and Fight Imperialism*
The sheer volume of material she was able to review is
astounding.
*Times Literary Supplement*
In this book, Julia E. Sweig attempts to debunk one of the many
pillars of the mythology surrounding the Revolution, namely that
Fidel Castro, his brother Raúl, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, and a few
other guerilla fighters stationed in the Sierra Maestra were the
primary force that brought down Batista and had a dominant
influence over revolutionary activities beyond the Sierra Maestra,
including the urban settings… The picture produced by this book is
one in which 26th of July leaders, operating outside the Sierra
Maestra, played protagonist roles within the insurrection and that
much of the initiative and many of the key actions emerged from the
llano (lowlands)… [S]he supports this thesis with documentary
sources heretofore unavailable to scholars. The bulk of the
documentary evidence sustaining the book consists of hundreds of
documents housed at the Cuban Council of State’s Office of Historic
Affairs, which the Cuban government made available to Sweig while
keeping the archive’s doors closed to other researchers. This
valuable and fascinating collection of documents allowed the author
to paint a well-documented and nuanced perspective on llano–sierra
relations as well as how the leaders of the 26th of July Movement
related to other anti-Batista figures… Sweig’s book is an important
and useful contribution for the understanding of the struggle
against Batista.
*The Historian*
This is not a military history, but it is the best book ever
written about Fidel Castro's revolutionary movement...Unlike the
great body of preexisting literature on the subject, Sweig's work
is thoroughly professional and based primarily on archival sources
in Cuba, to which she had unprecedented and almost unrestricted
access...Written with style, insight, and clarity, Julia Sweig's
landmark study, now available in paperback, cannot be ignored by
any serious student of the Cuban Revolution.
*Military History*
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