“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.”—Louis A. Pérez, The Los Angeles Times Book Review

“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.”—Neill
Macaulay, Military History

“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.”—Susan Kaufman Purcell, Foreign Affairs

“The sheer volume of material she was able to review is astounding.”—Mark Falcoff, The Times Literary
Supplement

“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.”—Helen Yaffe, Fight Racism and Fight Imperialism

“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 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.”—Luis Martínez-Fernández,
The Historian

“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.”—Mark L. Gover, Library Journal

“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.

Julia Sweig shatters the mythology surrounding the Cuban Revolution in a compelling revisionist history
that reconsiders the revolutionary roles of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and restores to a central
position the leadership of the Cuban urban underground, the Llano. Granted unprecedented access to
the classified records of Castro's 26th of July Movement's underground operatives--the only scholar
inside or outside of Cuba allowed access to the complete collection in the Cuban Council of State's Office
of Historic Affairs--she details the ideological, political, and strategic debates between Castro's
mountain-based guerrilla movement and the urban revolutionaries in Havana, Santiago, and other cities.

In a close study of the fifteen months from November 1956 to July 1958, when the urban underground
leadership was dominant, Sweig examines the debate between the two groups over whether to wage
guerrilla warfare in the countryside or armed insurrection in the cities, and is the first to document the
extent of Castro's cooperation with the Llano. She unveils the essential role of the urban underground,
led by such figures as Frank PaIs, Armando Hart, HaydEe Santamaria, Enrique Oltuski, and Faustino
PErez, in controlling critical decisions on tactics, strategy, allocation of resources, and relations with
opposition forces, political parties, Cuban exiles, even the United States--contradicting the standard
view of Castro as the primary decision maker during the revolution.

In revealing the true relationship between Castro and the urban underground, Sweig redefines the
history of the Cuban Revolution, offering guideposts for understanding Cuban politics in the 1960s and
raising intriguing questions for the future transition of power in Cuba.

he romantic image of the Cuban Revolution owes much to Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who played up the
role of Fidel Castro's rural guerrilla fighters in toppling Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Inside the
Cuban Revolution shifts the emphasis to the urban opposition between 1957 and mid-1958. During this
period, Sweig writes, Castro's rebels were just finding their bearings and ranked as only one of several
opposition forces. 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 also points out that Cuban exiles played an aggressive role in the 1950s, shipping
weapons to anti-Batista forces in Cuba. Sweig convincingly argues that only after the failure of a general
strike in April 1958 did Castro take control of the opposition movement. The lessons Castro learned from
those events strongly influenced his strategy after 1959: forging tactical alliances at home and
cultivating public opinion abroad, astutely using the press, fostering divisions among the exile
community, and using sympathetic individuals within the United States to help shape U.S. policies
toward Cuba. 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.

In her book, Council Senior Fellow Julia Sweig shatters the mythology surrounding the Cuban Revolution
in a compelling revisionist history that reconsiders the roles of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and
restores to a central position the leadership of the Cuban urban underground, the Llano. The only
scholar inside or outside of Cuba allowed access to the complete collection in the Cuban Council of
State's Office of Historic Affairs, Sweig illuminates the classified records of the underground operatives
in Castro's 26th of July Movement. Her story details the ideological, political, and strategic debates
between Castro's mountain-based guerrilla movement and the urban revolutionaries in Havana,
Santiago, and other cities.

Sweig debunks two long-standing myths: that the Cuban Revolution was won by a band of guerrillas and
peasants, and that domestic politics in Cuba is dead. According to Sweig's review of original documents
from Castro's own archives, the revolution was the work of an urban network controlled by middle-class
professionals who skillfully cultivated complex alliances with an array of disparate groups. These same
skills have allowed Castro to survive—and even thrive—in the decade of global political and economic
change since the collapse of his Soviet benefactor. Against all odds, he has forged a coalition of
increasingly diverse constituencies at home and abroad. Sweig concludes that the roots of Fidelismo
may be broader and deeper than many expect.

What is the truth about the Cuban Revolution? How was it won? Who won it? Was victory due to luck or
to genius? Did Fidel Castro and the 26th of July movement fill a void left by loosely organized opposition
groups, or did they face seriously positioned rebel groups with designs on power after president
Fulgencio Batista's ouster? Did Fidel Castro cooperate with the Popular Socialist Party (the Cuban
communist party) and deceive dissidents and the people at large about his future commitment to
Marxist-Leninism, or did he establish a broad-based underground force, especially in cooperation when
the urban branch wanted to plan a general strike? Did Castro and the communists remain allies, or did
they disagree over the final phase of the guerrilla movement? For 40 years, scholars have attempted to
answer these questions, but insufficient access to the necessary documentary evidence has kept their
answers incomplete.

Julia Sweig—granted access to the archives of the Cuban Council of State's Office of Historic Affairs,
which houses correspondence between the leaders of the 26th of July movement—is finally able to
answer these questions. This constitutes the definitive book about negotiations between Castro's
guerrilla army, his urban underground, and the peripheral but important rebel groups that together
engineered Batista's downfall. Sweig dispels the myths left by the revolutionary leadership in the
headiness of triumph and corrects mistakes caused by inadequate source materials.

The first of many clarifications concerns the nuanced origin of Che Guevara's foco theory. Some have
argued that Guevara's model—calling for peasant guerrilla insurrection led by Marxist revolutionaries
disconnected from urban groups—was politically inspired in order to aggrandize the 26th of July
movement and diminish the role of other participants in the struggle against Batista. Sweig's account
reveals that tensions between Guevara and urban underground leaders existed long before January 1,
1959, when Batista fled Cuba. During the insurrection, Guevara was entirely cut off from the planning
and execution of the April 1958 general strike devised by the urban leaders. Yet Fidel Castro, Armando
Hart, Haydee Santamaría, and others cooperated with the urban movement, and they even assumed a
subordinate position when they agreed to attack urban targets as a diversionary cover for the striking
workers. The strike failed for a number of reasons (including ineffective guerrilla action), which marked
the decline of the urban underground and the shift of strategy to all-out guerrilla war. This vindicated
Guevara's vision and justified the foco theory. Thus, the foco—which denied the fundamental
contributions of the urban underground and other forces—was not simply politically motivated. It was,
rather, a strategic detour around what appeared, at the time, to have been costly mistakes in
revolutionary planning. After the failure of the general strike, [End Page 351] guerrilla operations took
center stage, while general strike action served as support and diversion; the roles of the guerrilla and
urban underground had reversed.

A second clarification is that opposition to Batista was a collective affair both inside and outside the 26th
of July movement. To date, most believe that Castro was the mastermind behind the rebel forces, but
Sweig challenges this view. Operatives like Frank Pais and Armando Hart independently coordinated the
Sierra guerrillas and the urban underground. Pais was unassailable in his ability to complete missions
and operated without much supervision from Castro. Hart communicated constantly with Castro, but he
did make independent decisions and occasionally received reprimands for actions contrary to Castro's
design. Operatives abroad made unity pacts with other political parties, which compromised Castro's
desire for preeminence after Batista's demise. While Pais was loyal but authoritative in his work, the
other leaders were in contact with Castro and responsive to his challenges to their decisions. People
were recalled or deployed to...

"In a close study of the fifteen months from November 1956 to July 1958, when the urban underground
leadership was dominant, Sweig examines the debate between the two groups over whether to wage
guerrilla warfare in the countryside or armed insurrection in the cities, and is the first to document the
extent of Castro's cooperation with the llano. She unveils the essential role of the urban underground,
led by such figures as Frank Pais, Armando Hart, Haydee Santamaria, Enrique Oltuski, and Faustino
Perez, in controlling critical decisions on tactics, strategy, allocation of resources, and relations with
opposition forces, political parties, Cuban exiles, even the United States - contradicting the standard
view of Castro as the primary decision maker during the revolution."

NEXXT STUFFF
The surprising story of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and the scrappy band of rebel men and women who
followed them.Most people are familiar with the basics of the Cuban Revolution of 1956?1959: it was
led by two of the twentieth century's most charismatic figures, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara; it
successfully overthrew the island nation's US?backed dictator; and it quickly went awry under Fidel's
rule. But less is remembered about the amateur nature of the movement or the lives of its players. In
this wildly entertaining and meticulously researched account, historian and journalist Tony Perrottet
unravels the human drama behind history's most improbable revolution: a scruffy handful of self-taught
revolutionaries?many of them kids just out of college, literature majors, and art students, and including
a number of extraordinary women?who defeated 40,000 professional soldiers to overthrow the
dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Cuba Libre!'s deep dive into the revolution reveals fascinating details:
How did Fidel's highly organized lover Celia Sánchez whip the male guerrillas into shape? Who were the
two dozen American volunteers who joined the Cuban rebels? How do you make land mines from
condensed milk cans?or, for that matter, cook chorizo à la guerrilla (sausage guerrilla-style)? Cuba
Libre! is an absorbing look back at a liberation movement that captured the world's imagination with its
spectacular drama, foolhardy bravery, tragedy, and, sometimes, high comedy?and that set the stage for
Cold War tensions that pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war.

Most people are familiar with the basics of the Cuban Revolution of 1956–1959: it was led by two of the
twentieth century’s most charismatic figures, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara; it successfully overthrew
the island nation’s US–backed dictator; and it quickly went awry under Fidel’s rule.

But less is remembered about the amateur nature of the movement or the lives of its players. In this
wildly entertaining and meticulously researched account, historian and journalist Tony Perrottet
unravels the human drama behind history’s most improbable revolution: a scruffy handful of self-taught
revolutionaries—many of them kids just out of college, literature majors, and art students, and including
a number of extraordinary women—who defeated 40,000 professional soldiers to overthrow the
dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Cuba Libre!’s deep dive into the revolution reveals fascinating details:
How did Fidel’s highly organized lover Celia Sánchez whip the male guerrillas into shape? Who were the
two dozen American volunteers who joined the Cuban rebels? How do you make land mines from
condensed milk cans—or, for that matter, cook chorizo à la guerrilla (sausage guerrilla-style)?

Cuba Libre! is an absorbing look back at a liberation movement that captured the world's imagination
with its spectacular drama, foolhardy bravery, tragedy, and, sometimes, high comedy—and that set the
stage for Cold War tensions that pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war.

Only the hoariest among us remember when the Cuban revolution was chic and Fidel Castro was feted
as a modern-day Robin Hood. In his fast-paced and highly entertaining book Cuba Libre!, Tony Perrottet
spotlights the bright hopes that propelled the revolution and the herculean effort that enabled a ragtag
band to defeat a dictator’s army of 40,000 in just over two years.
President Fulgencio Batista began a reign in 1952 that was remarkable for its corruption and brutality.
Castro’s career as a rebel against Batista began a year later, with a failed attack on an army barrack.
After his release from prison, Castro retreated to Mexico to plan further resistance. There he met and
enlisted the Argentinean doctor Ernesto “Che” Guevara. With a band of 82 men, Castro returned to
Cuba by sea in late 1956. A disastrous landing led to most of his troops being captured or killed. The few
survivors took refuge in the rugged Sierra Maestra range and trained their eyes on distant Havana.

Perrottet relies on contemporary newspaper accounts and journals to depict the perilous living
conditions in the mountains, explain the essential roles of female leaders and illustrate Castro’s genius
in public relations. The victories against Batista grew slowly but inexorably and were, for the most part,
chronicled sympathetically by the American media. Finally, Castro made his triumphant entry into
Havana on January 8, 1959. His honeymoon with the U.S. lasted only a few months, until it became clear
that he really did intend to reform the Cuban economy at the expense of those who had drained it.