"It's a difficult read, due in no small part to the author's support of the Cuban Revolution and Castro's government. It helps, however, to recognize that the b

"It's a difficult read, due in no small part to the author's support of the Cuban Revolution and Castro's government. It helps, however, to recognize that the book was written in 1971, long before it became apparent that the Cuban experiment with Communism had some serious humanitarian costs, despite its successes." I don't understand why leftists have gotten into the habit of apologizing for collateral damage. The US never did. You can be thoughtful of "Amnesty International morality" (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n23/neal-ascherson/victory-in-defeat http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n23/neal-ascherson/victory-in-defea...) but if it's your overriding criteria we'll all just end up living in Paul Treanor's democracy, and that's a depressing thought.