A Bone in the Throat

Piero Gleijeses

The Real Fidel Castro by Leycester Coltman Buy this book

Leycester Coltman was British ambassador in Cuba from 1991 to 1994. During these years, the dust jacket on his book claims, ‘he came as close to personal friendship with Castro as any foreigner was permitted.’ Coltman writes with great confidence, even immodesty – we are given the impression that he knows all Castro’s secrets – and the range of his book extends beyond his immediate experience to take in all of Castro’s life.

Subscribers to the print edition can log in to view the entire article. For information about subscribing to the London Review of Books click here. This article is available for purchase online. Buy this article.

From the LRB letters page: [ 21 October 2004 ] Grant MacLean.

Piero Gleijeses is a professor of American foreign policy in the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington and Africa 1959-76 came out in 2002; he is completing a book about Cuban and US policy towards Southern Africa during the Carter and Reagan administrations.