A Totally Free Man: Unauthorized Biography of Fidel Castro

John Krich

Imagine Castro talking into a tape recorder about his life, reviewing events and people at will. That’s what author John Krich has done here, very cleverly and full of ironic humor. There’s something here for you no matter what side of the Cuban issue you stand on.

Castro's Cuba, Cuba's Fidel

Lee Lockwood
Westview Press

Cuba, Castro, and the United States

Philip W. Bonsal
University of Pittsburgh Press

Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War, 1956-58

Che Guevara
Pathfinder

Fidel Castro and the Quest for a Revolutionary Culture in Cuba

Julie Marie Bunck
Pennsylvania State University Press

Fidel Castro's Political Strategy: From Moncada to Victory

Marta Harnecker
Ocean Press

This is one place where you can find Fidel Castro’s “History Will Absolve Me” speech.

To Speak the Truth: Why Washington's Cold War Against Cuba Doesn't End

Fidel Castro, Che Guevara

Che: A Memoir

Fidel Castro
Ocean Press

Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution

Che Guevara

Guerrilla Prince

Georgie Anne Geyer
Little Brown

Reminiscences of The Cuban Revolutionary War

Che Guevara

Guevara Also Known as Che

Paco Ignacio Taibo II

Fidel Castro

Herbert L. Matthews
Simon & Shuster

Fidel: A Critical Portrait

Tad Szulc

A balanced and objective look at Castro.

A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston

I can't believe this one's out of print. A shame. You may still be able to find it at better public libraries.

The Bay of Pigs: The Untold Story

Peter Wyden
Simon & Schuster

A very thorough account of the invasion. Recommended.

Bay of Pigs Declassified

Edited by Peter Kornbluh
The New Press, NY

All the secret files they didn't let you look at for over twenty years.

The Bay of Pigs and the CIA

Juan Carlos Rodríquez

The Cuban point of view, including recently declassified files and information.

Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse

James G. Blight, Bruce J. Allyn & David A. Welch
Pantheon Books

Decision for Disaster: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs

Grayston Lynch

Lynch fired the first shot at Bay of Pigs.

Kennedy

Sorensen
Harper & Row

The Kennedys and Cuba: The Declassified Documentary History

Edited with commentary by Mark J. White
Ivan R. Dee

Lots of recently declassified memos and official notes from meetings and discussions on topics ranging from Operation Mongoose, the Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs, and more.

One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev,Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-64

Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali
W.W. Norton & Co.

Psywar on Cuba: The Declassified History of U.S. anti-Castro Propaganda

Jon Elliston
Ocean Press

Exposes a 40-year campaign by Washington to use psychological warfare and propaganda to destabilize Cuba and undermine the revolution.

The perfect failure: Kennedy, Eisenhower, and the CIA at the Bay of Pigs

Trumbull Higgins
W.W. Norton & Co.

Reflections of a Cold Warrior: From Yalta to the Bay of Pigs

Richard M. Bissell, Jr.

Chilling, matter-of-fact. Straight from the one CIA official in charge of planning the invasion.

Robert Kennedy and His Times

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Houghton Mifflin Company

Sad and Luminous Days: Cuba's Struggle with the Superpowers after the Missile Crisis

James G. Blight and Philip Brenner
Bowman & Littlefield Publishers

Shadow Warrior/the CIA Hero of a Hundred Unknown Battles

Felix I. Rodriguez and John Weisman
Simon and Schuster