History / Caribbean & West Indies Books

In this first volume of a projected two-volume academic biography, historian Frank Argote-Freyre recounts Fulgencio Batista's early life and rise to power in Cuba, going beyond the view that he was merely a stereotypical dictator running a corrupt little island. Placing Batista within the context of two decades of turbulent Cuban history, Argote-Freyre reveals the colorful and complex mix of people's politics and historical forces at play in the 1930s, and presents Batista as a revolutionary leader without glossing over his use of the military as a platform to gain power. Argote-Freyre brings Batista's story up to his election to the presidency in 1940.