Fidel Castro and Che Guevara: The Legends of the Cuban Revolution

By: Charles River Editors

Narrated by: Colin Fluxman

Fidel Castro is one of the most influential and controversial men of the last 50 years, equally revered and reviled by people across the globe. To the West, Castro has long been one of the prominent faces of Communism, and the main reason Cuba has been ostracized by many liberal democracies, particularly the United States. On the other hand, Castro has been admired by those who despised capitalism, and despite the fact the political platform Castro advocated has been almost universally repudiated and only maintains a weak hold even in Cuba, Castro's Marxist-leaning writings and speeches have influenced other leaders across the globe, from Hugo Chavez to Nelson Mandela.

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, known to the world as Che, has led two lives. In the first of these lives, the Argentine-born revolutionary was a remarkable and flawed doctor-turned-guerilla who left behind a highly controversial political legacy. In the second, he was - and is - first and foremost an image. Specifically, he is one particular image in which he appears as a wavy-haired, bearded young man with a beret and an intense gaze. The photograph, entitled Guerrillero Heroico and taken on March 5, 1960 by Cuban photographer Alberto Korda, is said to be the most reproduced image in the history of photography.

Fidel Castro and Che Guevara chronicles the lives, careers, and revolutions Castro and Che were involved in, while analyzing the controversies and legacies they left in their wake.

©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors