Fidel: A Biography of Fidel Castro

by Peter G. Bourne

An account of the life, career, personal and public character, talents, and shortcomings of the Cuban leader, written by a psychiatrist and former U.S. government official

332 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1986

About the author

Peter G. Bourne (born 1939 in Oxford, England) is a physician, anthropologist, author and international civil servant with experience in several senior government positions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_B...

Reviews

[Tim Bryant]

Written by Peter Bourne, a psychiatrist. He worked in the Carter Administration as a Senior Research Fellow for Caribbean and Latin American Affairs at the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs. His “Fidel” analyzes the psychological and political forces that have influenced Castro’s rise to power and continuing reign over Cuba.

Unlike much that has been written about this famous revolutionary, Bourne’s book seems fairly objective—reasonably pointing out Castro’s shrewd political capabilities and true love of the Cuban people combined with an genuine inability to accomplish the things he promised.

The greatest surprise in the book described an exchange between Castro and Lee Lockwood (photojournalist best known for his Behind-the-Iron Curtain work).

Excerpt:
As Lee Lockwood was getting up to leave at the end of his exceptional seven-hours of interviews with Fidel in 1965, he asked the Cuban leader to autograph a piece of revolutionary money (issued as a fundraising technique) that he had purchased on the streets of Havana in 1958. As he did so, Fidel commented jokingly, “You better not let anyone in the United States know you contributed to a Communist revolution.”
“But I did not know it was going to turn out to be Communist when I bought it,” Lockwood replied.
Fidel laughed and handed him the bill. “You know something,” he said, neither did I.

A lot of people don’t realize that Castro was not associated with the Communists until later on.

It was also interesting to learn he was a man of few vices—except of course that favorite brand of cigars, the Cuban Cohiba (not to be confused with the other Cohiba brand variants such as the one produced in the Dominican Republic for consumption in the U.S.).

The book does a great job highlighting the high intellect, charisma and physical stamina that made him popular early on. Too, it reveals his willingness to turn on anyone questioning his opinion and outlook –including brother Raul.

Bourne’s book gets a little weighted down toward the end following its narrative on the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis but then so too did life in Cuba.

Good geopolitical insights here for cruisers and islanders headed to the Caribbean and Latin America.

[Bobby Daugherty]

Biography of a pudgy communist agitator who grew a beard to cover his double chin in a country of starving people.