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Against All Hope is Armando Valladares' account of over twenty years in Fidel Castro's tropical gulag. Arrested in 1960 for being philosophically and religiously opposed to communism, Valladares was not released until 1982, by which time he had become one of the world's most celebrated "prisoners of conscience." Interned all those years at the infamous Isla de Pinos prison (from whose windows he watched the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion), Valladares suffered endless days of violence, putrid food and squalid living conditions, while listening to Castro's firing squads eliminating "counter revolutionaries" in the courtyard below his cell. Valladares survived by prayer and by writing poetry whose publication in Europe brought his case to the attention of international figures such as French President Francois Mitterand and to human rights organizations whose constant pressure on the Castro regime finally led to his release.
Paperback: 428 pages
Publisher: Encounter Books (April 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1893554198
ISBN-13: 978-1893554191
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.3 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #236,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #109 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Latin America #128 in Books > History > Americas > Central America #316 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Ideologies & Doctrines > Communism & Socialism
Are you ever against adversity?? Then, I would read this book!But I do wish to articulate:I lived near the Northern Border of Mexico, in the early mid 1980s; when Liberation Theology was in Central America; when insurgent movements were across Latin America; I had a shortwave radio and among other things, I listened to "Radio Havana Cuba", I am anglo, but I learned the Spanish language in college. I watched the excellent movie "El Norte" addressing the problems of Mayan Indians from Guatemala migrating to the U.S. (and probably a good unbiased movie to watch as well). I read and read and I saw even Socialist demonstrations in Mexico along with murals for all of the assorted parties there besides those with the hammer and sickle.But it made me wonder; what is the truth?So famous, is that "Scarface" movie of the early eighties; about a Cuban Prisoner of all things; coming over to Florida on the Mariel Boatlift. During that time, I took a class on Cuban history and I may have been a shade positive attitude towards Fidel Castro; but after reading this book; I became very neutral, not knowing what to think, about the "workers paradise" of that Caribbean isle.Fidel; and in fact, others, Che Guevara and the dictator's brother, Raoul; all are mentioned in this book, additionally in no favorable way;If half of what Valladares writes in this book were true, that would be rather sad for the ruling regime of Cuba; but then, I have to read it, and wonder, what motives would Valladares have to write untruths?
Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulag Fidel Castro & the Cuban Revolution for Kids!: The Amazing and Controversial Story of Fidel Castro & the Cuban Revolution The Gulag Archipelago, Volume l: The Prison Industry and Perpetual Motion Danzig Baldaev: Drawings from the Gulag The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk Against All Hope: The Prison Memoirs of Armando Valladares Against all Hope (The Riverdale Pony Stories Book 2) The Declarations of Havana (Revolutions Series): Tariq Ali presents Fidel Castro Fidel Castro: A Spoken Autobiography From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492-1969 After Fidel: The Inside Story of Castro's Regime and Cuba's Next Leader The Domino Diaries: My Decade Boxing with Olympic Champions and Chasing Hemingway's Ghost in the Last Days of Castro's Cuba Ya Gotta Believe!: My Roller-Coaster Life as a Screwball Pitcher, and Part-Time Father, and My Hope-Filled Fight Against Brain Cancer Violins of Hope: Violins of the Holocaust--Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind's Darkest Hour Hope For Fitzwilliam (Hope Series Trilogy Book 2) The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Service Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland The Outskirts of Hope: A Memoir of the 1960s Deep South Solo: A Memoir of Hope Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds
