Red Heat

Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean

De: Alex von Tunzelmann

Narrado por: Sarah Coomes

The Caribbean crises of the Cold War are revealed as never before in this riveting story of clashing ideologies, the rise of the politics of fear, the machinations of superpowers, and the brazen daring of the mavericks who took them on.

During the presidencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson, the Caribbean was in crisis. The men responsible included, from Cuba, the charismatic Fidel Castro and his mysterious brother Ral; from Argentina, the ideologue Che Guevara; from the Dominican Republic, the capricious psychopath Rafael Trujillo; and from Haiti, Franois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, a buttoned-down doctor with interests in Vodou, embezzlement, and torture.

Alex von Tunzelmann's brilliant narrative follows these five rivals and accomplices from the beginning of the Cold War to its end, each with a separate vision for his tropical paradise, and each in search of power and adventure as the United States and the USSR acted out the world's tensions in their island nations. The superpowers thought they could use Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic as puppets, but what neither bargained on was that their puppets would come to life. Red Heat is an intimate account of the strong-willed men who, armed with little but words and ruthlessness, took on the most powerful nations on earth.

©2011 Alex Von Tunzelmann (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"[A] mesmerizing, Conradian tale where the truth is almost too dark to bear. A remarkably gripping popular history." ( Kirkus)

"Von Tunzelmann’s diligent work will widen the eyes of cold war buffs.” ( Booklist)

Epic, sweeping & meticulously researched saga

Epic, sweeping & meticulously researched saga of the tumultuous 20th century history of the Caribbean islands. Alex puts in lot of hard work in writing the history for her readers. And it shows. Also I love the fact that she is able to bring out the human nature of the historical figures, instead of just making them dry caricatures. We are all human and sometimes it best to understand history within the context of the frailties and pitfalls of human nature. The sequence describing the tantrum thrown by Papa Doc when his daughter went off with her disgraced husband is an excellent example of this type of historical narrative.

My only grudge is that this is really 3 books combined in one - History of Cuba, that of Haiti & of the Dominican Republic. Although intertwined, each would have made a compelling narrative on its own. I felt towards the end not enough justice was done to telling the story of Castro & to some extent Che. At one point I got on Netflix and watched a documentary on Castro which gave me lot more information.

That doesn't take away at all from the compelling nature of this book. It should be required reading for any student of Caribbean history. And a pleasurable, informative and fascinating read for any history buff.

The audible narrative is also pleasant and the reader captures the spirit of the book well, along with her emphasis on French pronunciations which makes it even more interesting.

Thanks Alex for another wonderful historical read (following Indian summer)

Interesting, not extraordinary.

If the author would lose the anti American rant in the preface, I would have liked it more. I don't like being bludgeoned with a political position when I read history ... I would prefer the material enable me to draw the conclusions myself. Be that as it may, after you get past the introduction, the book is actually a pretty good history of American and European incursions and injustices in the Caribbean. Invading virtually defenseless island nations for a wide variety of reasons is apparently something of a tradition and has been for a long time.

This was an area of history with which I was only tangentially familiar. It enabled me, for the first time, to put our Cuban and other Caribbean adventures into a broader context.

The book is pretty good and the narrator is okay. I personally didn't like this narrator for this material. Her voice was too high for my comfort and I found her extremely clipped accent difficult to listen to for any long period. The pace was too brisk for my taste and I think, for the subject matter.

It's a reasonably well written book ... but as history it felt out of balance: too much opinion in proportion to the information. If you are interested in this region and its history and perhaps have always wondered what beef we have with Cuba and vice versa, this will probably give you the background information you want.

Takes me back to my childhood

Food for thought. McCarthy could have gotten a bit more ink. Ike was old and sick and did not like empires as he lead this country into the role of the anti communist empire.

Well-Done But Hard to Take

It took me a while to get through this book. It is a sorry story of American involvement in the Caribbean. Yet, it is well done, and it appears to be accurate. I wish our current politicians understood this.

Many Names Were Hurt

A very good historical overview that taught me quite a few things about the country where I grew up (the Dominican Republic) and the one my parents were exiled from (Cuba). Unfortunately, the narration was dismal. Though she could pronounce French names well enough, I have seldom heard someone so consistently nutcher Spanish ones. And under French rule the island was called Saint Domingue, not “Saint Dominique”! This book deserves a better performance.