This is the authorized biography of Fidel Castro - revolutionary and Chief of State. It tells the story of a revolution fought by an army which sometimes consisted of eight men and seven weapons as well as attempting to reveal the private face of the Cuban leader. The author was a New York Times reporter and has written The Illusion of Peace: a Diplomatic History of the Nixon Years, The Winds of Revolution and The Twilight of the Tyrants. He met and toured with Castro in 1959.