The americano: fighting with castro for cuba's freedom

The untold story of William Morgan, the man who left Ohio to become a high-ranking leader in Fidel Castro's rebel army: "Reads like a great epic novel" (Carlos Eire, author of Waiting for Snow in Havana ). When William Morgan was twenty-two years old, he was working as a high school janitor in Toledo, Ohio. Seven years later, in 1958, he walked into a rebel camp in the Cuban jungle to join the revolutionaries in their fight to overthrow the corrupt Cuban president, Fulgencio Batista. The rebels were wary of the broad-shouldered, blond-haired, blue-eyed Americano —but Morgan's dedication and passion, his military skill and charisma, led him to become a chief comandante in Castro's army. He was the only foreigner to hold such a rank, with the exception of Che Guevara. Based on interviews with his friends, family, and former fellow rebels, as well as FBI and CIA documents, this is the remarkable story of his journey—and how it ended in 1961, when at the age of thirty-two, he was executed by firing squad at the hands of Fidel Castro. "William Morgan, an American who made his way to the front line of Castro's revolution in Cuba, gets thorough and entertaining treatment in this biography. Largely unknown in the U.S., his story is filled with the suspense of a blockbuster war movie, offering new and insightful perspective into the political climate of 1950s Cuba... [turns] the intriguing story of one man into a thoughtful examination of 20th-century Cuban history." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A figure straight out of Hemingway." — Kirkus Reviews " The Americano 's strength lies in explaining how the three anti-Batista forces constantly jockeyed for supremacy and influence....Shetterly nicely weaves FBI, CIA and State Department files on Morgan into his narrative." — The Washington Post Book World