Castro's Cuba An American Journalist's Inside Look at Cuba 1959-1969

On December 31, 1958, Lee Lockwood, then a young photojournalist, went to Cuba to cover what looked to be the end of Batistarsquo;s regime. He arrived the day before Fidel Castro took power and spent a week canvassing the island before finally coming into contact with the victorious leader. Castro immediately took to Lockwood and over the next decade invited him back many times, granting him special access to his inner circle and free reign to explore the island without the usual restrictions imposed upon American journalists. Originally published in 1967, Lockwood's interviews and observations are now republished by TASCHEN alongside hundreds of photographs covering both the weeks Lockwood spent traveling with Castro and the years he documented Cuba's transformation throughout the 60s. From military encampments in the Sierra Maestra mountains to Havana street life and political rallies, many of these color images have never been published before. A foreword and afterword by Latin America expert Saul Landau contextualize Lockwood's work at a moment in history when U.S. Cuba relations once again take center stage. It remains to this day one of the most penetrating portraits of the Cuban leader.