The Americano: Fighting with Castro for Cuba's Freedom (Hardcover)

The Americano: Fighting with Castro for Cuba's Freedom Book Description

Why do I fight here in this land so foreign to my own? Why did I come here far from my home and family?...Is it because I seek adventure? No...I am here because I believe that the most important thing for free men to do is to protect the freedom of others. --WILLIAM MORGAN, in a letter to Herbert Matthews at the New York Times When William Morgan was twenty-two years old, he was working as a high school janitor in Toledo Ohio. Seven years later, in 1958, he walked into a Rebel camp in the Cuban Jungle to join the revolutionaries in their fight to overthrow the corrupt Cuban president, Fulgencio Batista. They were wary of the broad-shouldered, blond-haired, blue-eyed americano but Morgan's dedication and passion, his military skill and charisma, led him to become a chief comandante in Castro's army--he was the only foreigner to hold such a rank, with the exception of Che Guevera. Vicious battles in the jungles were followed by victorious revelry in the cities. Morgan married a Cuban beauty. He single-handedly thwarted the Dominican Republic's attempt to overthrow Castro. And he was chosen to work with Castro and other high ranking Rebels to improve the quality of life for all people. This man who had lived under the radar in America was now a Cuban hero on the watch lists of several governments, all of whom wondered whose side he was really on. It all ended in 1961, when, at age thirty-two, Morgan was executed by firing squad, at the hands of Fidel Castro.Journalist Aran Shetterlytakes us back to an era when democracy could have flourished in Cuba. He interviewed Morgan's friends and family and former Cuban Rebels, and examined FBI and CIA documents in search of the truth. What emerged was the true story of a young man who had never fit in but finally found his place in the world by fighting another country's war.
At age twenty-nine, William Morgan left Toledo, Ohio, and traveled to Cuba to fight alongside Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in the revolution that would expel the corrupt president Batista from the Cuban government. At first, the Cubans were distrustful of el Americano, but Morgan's dedication and passion, his military skill and charisma, led him to become a chief comandante of the Revolution, the only foreigner to hold such a rank with the exception of Che.
After working at first for Castro, and then perhaps against him when it became clear that Castro had no intention of setting up a democracy, Morgan was executed by firing squad at the dictator's hands. To this day, Morgan is considered a traitor by some Cubans, a hero by others.
By interviewing Morgan's friends and family and former Cuban Rebels, and examining FBI documents, what Aran Shetterly found were stories from an era when democracy could have flourished in Cuba and the true tale of how a young man who never fit in finally found his place in the world by fighting another country's war.

About the Author :

Aran Shetterly has contributed to The Americano: Fighting with Castro for Cuba's Freedom as an author. Aran Shetterly attended Harvard College and the University of Southern Maine, where he completed a master's degree in American studies. He is on the board of the Americans Who Tell the Truth organization and the Union of Maine Visual Artists, for which he conceived, organized, and ran an exchange between artists from Maine and Cuba. He lives in Mexico, where he and his wife founded "Inside Mexico", an English-language newspaper.

Book Details

Customer Reviews : The Americano: Fighting with Castro for Cuba's Freedom

Be the first one to review this product!

Have you used this product?

    

Discussion : The Americano: Fighting with Castro for Cuba's Freedom