The Real Fidel Castro by Leycester Colman - review by Justin Marozzi

Justin Marozzi

The Great Dictator

The Real Fidel Castro

By

Yale University Press 352pp £25
 

WHEN A DICTATOR has served a certain time in office, it becomes fashionable to ignore the less attractive aspects of his rule (arbitrary arrests, beatings, torture, crushing of all opposition - the usual roll-call of revolutionary exuberance) and regard him with a more benevolent eye. After thirty-four years spent frightening the life out of ordinary Libyans - flirting with international terrorism here, blowing up aeroplanes and discos there - Colonel Gaddafi appears to have reached that agreeable stage of life. Several billion well-placed dollars, the price of killing hundreds of innocent civilians on two airliners, have helped ease him back into the community of nations. 'You know, that Gaddafi's a bit of a character, isn't he?' goes the cry. 'Look how many American presidents he's seen off, and he's still in power. You have to admire him.' Well, no, you don't actually. The man is a dangerous criminal. Like his dictatorial brethren around the world, he has waged war on his own people.

Fidel Castro achieved cuddly-dictator status much earlier than Gaddafi. One reason for this is his greater number of years at the helm. The grand-daddy of Marxist revolutionaries, he seized power in Cuba in' 1959, a fill decade before the Libyan leader ousted King Idris. Another, more important explanation is that

Sign Up to our newsletter

Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.

RLF - March

A Mirror - Westend

Follow Literary Review on Twitter