Guerrilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro

Geyer ( Buying the Night Flight ) presents the Cuban dictator as a failure in virtually every category--son, husband, father, friend, revolutionary, statesman--and describes him as ``wholly without human principle.'' At the same time, however, she calls him a genius who has changed the very nature of war. His Machiavellian hand, she argues, has figured in every major U.S. foreign policy crisis of the last 30 years; moreover, he has had a profound effect on the psyche, patriotism and self-confidence of the U.S. Geyer's evidence for such sweeping claims is unconvincing, nor does she support her charges that Castro attempted to subvert black America and that key members of the anti-Vietnam war movement were trained in Cuba. This ambitious if somewhat feverish biography is nonetheless worth reading for its insights into Castro's obsession with the U.S. and revelations about his family, his many amours and illegitimate children. Photos. (Feb.)