Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana and Washington

by Ann Louise Bardach

From Cuban-Miami political journalist, Ann Louise Bardach comes an account of the last chapter in the life of Fidel Castro: his near death and marathon finale, his enemies and their fifty-year failed battle to eliminate him, and the carefully planned succession and early reign of his brother Raúl.

Includes a chronicle of the Havana-Washington political showdown, drawing on nearly two decades of reporting and countless interviews with everyone from the Comandante himself, his co-ruler and brother Raúl, and other family members, to ordinary Cubans as well as officials and politicos in Miami, Havana, and Washington. The result is an unforgettable dual portrait of Fidel and Raúl Castro -- arguably the most successful and enduring political brother team in history.

Genres: History, Biography

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 30, 2008

Reviews

[Alexw · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I learned from this book was that Fidel Castro had 5 mistresses & 5 children from them. Forbes magazine rated his wealth at $900 million which prompted the George Orwell spot on saying, "Everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others."
What I wanted to learn was more about the Bay of Pigs invasion which received no air support & left the US backed troops on the beach to die, the hairbrained Keystone Cop like attempts by the CIA to kill Castro which consisted of putting tuberculosis germs in his diving suit & poisoning his cigars & the Cuban missile crisis which was resolved only when Kennedy secretly agreed to remove all nuclear missiles in Turkey which is what Khruschev wanted in the first place. Khruschev was not to launch a nuclear missile for Cuba which he considered a third world parasite on Russia's economy.
Amazingly, none of these events were barely mentioned except that Kennedy & Khruschev ignored all of Castro's input on the Cuban missile crisis which left Castro despondent. In excruciating detail was the dying of Fidel which started in 2006 & lasted until 2016. He would be deathly sick, rally & his doctors would say he was fine, relapse & his doctors would say he needed his rest & this went on for 1o years-boring.
The rest of the book was when his brother Raul took over & Russia quit giving them aid, several hurricanes devastated Cuba & their economy collapsed.

[MikeFromQueens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read - some exhaustive details that can be thought of as thorough coverage, but it bogged down progress at times. Was this a family dispute between Castro and Bush? I got the feeling that A. Bardach intended readers to guess.

[Rick Rapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely well-researched and eye-opening book by noted Cuban scholar and journalist Ann Bardach. This books sheds a lot of light on the counter-revolutionary activities in and by the United States and Cuban refugees and much of it is less than complimentary. Of particular interest was the explanation for the virulence of the Bush family against Castro's Cuba. It turns out that the Bush family lost considerable money and property when Batista's regime collapsed. The have neither forgotten nor forgiven Castro for this. The only drawback of the book is the lengthy list of characters (particularly among the counter-revolutionaries) and it gets challenging to wade through some of that. But for anyone interested in a detailed and intelligent account of Castro's waning years and the reactions of the US and the Miami community, this book is a must read.

[Stephanie LGW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long read, very detailed. At times, you can get bogged down or even lost in the political back-and-forth. But overall, it was very informative.

[LA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, well written, well researched. Wanders a bit in the middle, but a worthwhile read.

[Bronwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot of details about the Castro brothers, Revolutionary History and Miami politics. Sometimes the detail was too much but overall it was a very informative book. The author obviously has a lot of sources and access to Cuban figures and it was interesting reading about her interactions with Fidel and Raul.

[Miguel Trujano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mucho Rollo, se podrían saltar muchas cosas...

[Waika Ivelisse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Resumen general historica Familiar de la familia castro. Interesante pero nada nuevo.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a great resource when it was written (2009), but pretty outdated at this point. Intel about the long-term conflicts between the Bushes and Castros was interesting, but vague.