Fidel's Cuba: A Revolution in Pictures

The image of the Cuban revolutionary is so imbedded in the cultural consciousness that these pictures by the father-and-son photographic team who documented Castro's career for the newspaper Revolucion at first seem almost a cliche: Castro gesticulating wildly before the general assembly; a pensive close-up of Che, his trailing cigar smoke artistically illuminated. But it is an apt medium for describing Fidel's Cuba, as visual images and physical symbols were as central to communicating with a largely illiterate populus as Fidel's notorious six-hour speeches. While the Salases cover everything from the 1959 overthrow of Batista to the 1962 missile crisis, what they capture with striking clarity is the personal and often romantic expression of figures as emotionally raw and complex as Che, Castro, his brother Raul, and confidante Celia Sanchez. A chronology of events interspersed with personal anecdotes from Roberto Salas ("Salitas," or "little Salas," as Fidel called him) are humorous (Castro was always low on cash) if a bit self-aggrandizing. As Cuba today resembles a beautiful woman with a now-marred visage, these photographs (only now available in this country) access Castro's once passionate ideology and charisma. For general collections. [With the approach of the 20th anniversary of Castro's takeover in Cuba, we can expect more books on the subject in the coming year.?Ed.]?Millys Lee, "Library Journal. -?Millys Lee, "Library Journal" Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
       --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. 
         
       
       "In the end, if I have to sum up what I admire most about the Salases and their work, it is their professionalism. This book is a testament to that spirit and also to the lives they lived alongside one another, as father and son, each behind his own camera."  —from the foreword by John Lee Anderson "What they capture with striking clarity is the personal and often romantic expression of figures as emotionally raw and complex as Che, Castro, his brother Raul, and confidante Celia Sanchez...These photographs (only now available in this country) access Castro's once passionate ideology and charisma."  —Library Journal