Against All Hope

The Prison Memoirs of Armando Valladares

By: Armando Valladares

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 17 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

This is a history of the Cuban Revolution as viewed from its dungeons.

Armando Valladares describes his 22 years of torment and triumph in Castro's prison. Arrested at the age of 22 for being philosophically opposed to communism, he gives a dramatic and harrowing account of the regular beatings, the hunger, the humiliation, and the psychological "experimentation" to which the Cuban Revolution subjected its unrepentant enemies. However, Valladares's hope and courage transcended these horrors, showing us the heroic possibilities of one possessing unshaken faith.

More than an indictment of a cruel regime, this book is a testimony to the power of biblical faith to allow a man to survive against all hope.

©1986 Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (P)1989 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Mr. Valladares offers a record of dearly bought knowledge that no one can afford to overlook." ( Wall Street Journal)
"Valladares's book is an event of considerable cultural and political significance: the most detailed and irrefutable description yet published of the suffering engendered in Cuba by communism and Fidel Castro." ( Time)
"[A]n extraordinary account....What sets it apart from other prison memoirs is not the suffering...but its record of all-out resistance. It could almost be entitled 'The War Memoirs of Armando Valladares.'" ( Los Angeles Times)

The Face of Communism

This should be required reading at high school level, and for every brainwashed snowflake in academia.

I loathe communism

I loathe communism and also cannot stand it when others like to romanticize it! I had a real hard time getting through this book, not because of bad writing (the writing is excellent), but because it hits close to home. My family was one of the lucky ones that was able to leave Cuba after Castro took my grandfathers home that he built with his own hands. The account of this man and those he knew who suffered under communism in Cuba will be like the millions of average citizens in the USA who will have to suffer since such as a large part of the population has embraced the ideas of communism. Read this book and "The Diary of a Survivor Nineteen Years in a Cuban Women's Prison" and "The Gulag Archipelago" and "First they killed my father" and others like them and you will see the true face of socialism/communism as it is played out in murder, theft, and injustice. I try to warn anyone who will listen about the danger of trust in and worship of government, but most do not listen. Socialistic/communistic governments are among the worst governments to plague humanity, so testimonies like this book are necessary for anyone with even the slightest intelligence to read and think about. When I think of how humans can do this to each other their own countrymen, it makes me ashamed to be Cuban but also very proud when you read about men like this. Its utterly heartbreaking!!

Remember Khrushchev's Prediction, 1959? It's coming true. It's been more than 60 years since Russia’s Khrushchev delivered this. Many of you may not remember his quote or even were alive when Mr. Khrushchev of the Soviet Union made his remarks to President John F. Kennedy, September 29, 1959.

THIS WAS HIS QUOTE :
"Your children's children will live under communism, You Americans are
so gullible. No, you won't accept communism outright; but we will keep
feeding you small doses of socialism until you will finally wake up and find you already have Communism. We will not have to fight you; we will so weaken your economy, until you will fall like overripe fruit into our hands." "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."


Can you imagine not being able to read any book you wanted? I can’t, cause I was born free. What a tragedy that would have been for me. A life without my books. And the sad part is they don’t even know what they are missing or even what the world has to offer. My heat can't take it 😭

Armando shows the world true faith and courage.

I was absolutely pulled into this book. I fell in love with Armando's true faith.

Must Reading

This account of man’s inhumanity to man deserves the widest possible audience. How does something like this happen? Because people are ignorant of the situation or choose to ignore it for their own purposes.

this book is life changing, inspiring

this book is so eye opening to the horrors that Castro has created. however, it also allows us to see how a soul & spirit can never be destroyed by those who don't value humanity. thank you Armando valladares for giving me a glimpse of what my fellow patriots & father endured in that hell. thank you for allowing me & so many others to see that the torch of liberty should never be extinguished & passed on to all generations.

True story of communism

I’m Cuban but left at a very young age. This is a must for all Cubans and all those who fantasize about communism.
Very strong material but by far best book I’ve read.