Soldier of the Cuban Revolution: From the Cane Fields of Oriente to General of the Revolutionary Armed Forces

Soldier of the Cuban Revolution: From the Cane Fields of Oriente to General of the Revolutionary Armed Forces

Overview

Luis Alfonso Zayas, a general in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, recounts his experiences over five decades in the Cuban Revolution. From a teenage combatant in the clandestine struggle and 1956-8258 war that brought down the US-backed dictatorship, to serving three times as a leader of the Cuban volunteer forces that helped Angola defeat an invasion by the army of white-supremacist South Africa, Zayas tells how he and other ordinary men and women in Cuba changed the course of history and, in the process, transformed themselves as well.

Introduction by Mary-Alice Waters, photos, index, maps.

Editorial Reviews

Book News Inc

Based on interviews with Alfonso Zayas in 2007 and 2009 this volume recounts his involvement in the Cuban Revolution beginning as a teenager in the guerrilla forces' earliest battles in the Sierra Maestra and his subsequent career to become a general in the Cuban armed forces, including three voluntary tours of duty in Angola from 1976-1987, to his role as an influential leader in the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution today. The text provides lively narrative and interesting anecdotes about Zayas, Che, Castro and others as well as his own political insights. The work portrays revolutionary and post-revolutionary Cuba in an uncritically positive light, making this volume interesting, in an era of historical and political relativism, for its forthright pro-socialist narrative. The work is edited by Mary-Alice Waters, president of Pathfinder Press. Also available in Spanish asSoldado de la revolucion Cubana.

Bulletin of Latin American Research

The book's strength rests...on Zayas's ability to present an account of the revolution through the eyes of someone who played a significant role in its initiation and consolidation.

REFORMA Newsletter

The book is a valuable source as it retells a part of Cuba's history rarely known in the US.… Recommended for public and academic libraries. (online review of the Spanish edition)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781604880311
Publisher: Pathfinder Press GA
Publication date: 01/01/2011
Pages: 202
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

Customer Reviews