Fidel Castro: Cuban Revolutionary (Great Life Stories: Political Figures)

Son of a successful sugarcane grower, Fidel Castro spent his early years in the rural Biran district of Cuba. He was sent away to school at the age of five. While at school, Castro showed an interest in history and military matters. He attended high school in Havana where he was involved in athletics and debating. Staying in Havana for college, Castro became a law student and joined one of the revolutionary groups at the university. Castro's first few attempts at seizing power in Cuba were failures, but he finally succeeded in 1959. When he took over, he changed the nation into the first Communist country in the Western Hemisphere and allgned himself with the Soviet Union. Today, despite the country's economic and social problems, Castro continues to be Cuba's controversial leader. Book jacket.Brendan January is the author of 'Fidel Castro: Cuban Revolutionary (Great Life Stories: Political Figures)', published 2003 under ISBN 9780531116760 and ISBN 053111676X.