"Just when you think you know all about the Cuban Revolution, here is a new book with the aroma of a Tampa cigar. Rhonda Villamía, a native tampeña, brings to life, in her father's own words, Raúl Villamía's experiences of his early role in support of Fidel Castro's Revolution and subsequent disillusionment with it. She sums up not only local historical linkages to Cuba and the island's political corruption as motivators for supporting the nascent M-26-7, but also includes accounts of others in different American cities who joined Castro's struggle to unseat U.S. backed Fulgencio Batista. The book carries us from Cuba's birth, through tumultuous years leading up to Batista's coup, culminating in Castro's rise to power, and ending with broken relations between our two nations. Rhonda and collaborator Paul Guzzo's research fills a gap in the historical record by highlighting Tampa's and other cities' interactive role with the Cuban Revolution, only 90 miles away from our coast. Highly informative and original!"--Carlos J.

Cano, Ph.D, associate professor of Spanish, Hispanic Culture, Film and Literature (retired), University of South Florida, Tampa.