Fulgencio Batista - Frank Argote-Freyre

Pawn of the U.S. government. Right-hand man to the mob. Iron-fisted
dictator. For decades, public understanding of the pre-Revolutionary
Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista has been limited to these stereotypes.
While on some level they all contain an element of truth, these
superficial characterizations barely scratch the surface of the complex
and compelling career of this important political figure.

Second only to Fidel Castro, Batista is the most controversial leader in
modern Cuban history. And yet, until now, there has been no objective
biography written about him. Existing biographical literature is
predominantly polemical and either borders on hero worship or launches a
series of attacks aimed at denigrating his entire legacy.

In this book, the first of two volumes, Frank Argote-Freyre provides a
full and balanced portrait of this historically shadowed figure. He
describes Batista's rise to power as part of a revolutionary movement
and the intrigues and dangers that surrounded him. Drawing on an
extensive review of Cuban newspapers, government records, memos, oral
history interviews, and a selection of Batista's personal documents,
Argote-Freyre moves beyond simplistic caricatures to uncover the real
man-one with strengths and weaknesses and with a career marked by
accomplishments as well as failures.

This volume focuses on Batista's role as a revolutionary leader from
1933 to 1934 and his image as a "strongman" in the years between 1934
and 1939. Argote-Freyre also uses Batista as an interpretive prism to
review an entire era that is usually ignored by scholars-the Republican
period of Cuban history. Bringing together global and local events, he
considers the significance and relationship of the worldwide economic
depression, the beginnings of World War II, and in Cuba, the Revolution
of 1933, the expansion of the middle class, and the gradual development
of democratic institutions.

Fulgencio Batista and most of Cuba's past prior to the Revolution of
1959 has been lost in the historical mists. Cuba had a rich and
fascinating history before the Marxist Revolution and the reign of Fidel
Castro. This captivating and long-overdue book uncovers it.