"This is Fidel Castro, whom I think I know... A modest man, with insatiable dreams, with a typical, old-fashioned education, careful with words and simple in manners, but completely unable to understand any idea that does not conform to the ordinary."

(Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

"His parents named him "Faithful" like his godfather. It is very difficult for someone to live up to that name."

(Alice Walker)

In the twilight of his life, Fidel Castro, one of the most important political figures of our time, reflects on his childhood, youth, and student activism. In a deep confession, the Cuban leader describes his family life, his education in Catholic schools of the aristocracy, and the religious and moral influences that led to his involvement in politics from a very young age.

In Fidel's characteristic torrential speech, these autobiographical texts, recently updated with new, previously unpublished material, depict the student days of the young revolutionary at the University of Havana, his early thoughts on armed struggle, his travels in Latin America as an organizer of international student meetings, his participation in the popular uprising in Colombia in 1948, his experiences as a young lawyer and political activist, the attack on the Moncada fortress, and the days of imprisonment that followed.