Synopses & Reviews
The Caribbean crises of the Cold War are revealed as never before in this riveting story of clashing ideologies, the rise of the politics of fear, the machinations of superpowers, and the brazen daring of the mavericks who took them onDuring the presidencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson, the Caribbean was in crisis. The men responsible included, from Cuba, the charismatic Fidel Castro, and his mysterious brother Raúl; from Argentina, the ideologue Che Guevara; from the Dominican Republic, the capricious psychopath Rafael Trujillo; and from Haiti, François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, a buttoned-down doctor with interests in Vodou, embezzlement and torture.
Alex von Tunzelmann's brilliant narrative follows these five rivals and accomplices from the beginning of the Cold War to its end, each with a separate vision for his tropical paradise, and each in search of power and adventure as the United States and the USSR acted out the world's tensions in their island nations. The superpowers thought they could use Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic as puppets, but what neither bargained on was that their puppets would come to life. Red Heat is an intimate account of the strong-willed men who, armed with little but words and ruthlessness, took on the most powerful nations on earth.
Review
"…a mesmerizing, Conradian tale where the truth is almost too dark to bear. A remarkably gripping popular history."Kirkus
Review
"…a mesmerizing, Conradian tale where the truth is almost too dark to bear. A remarkably gripping popular history."—Kirkus
"Von Tunzelmanns diligent work will widen the eyes of cold war buffs.”--Booklist
Praise for Indian Summer
"Irreistible . . . A fascinating book that may well change how we look on the benighted world in which we live today."—Los Angeles Times
“Stirring…von Tunzelmanns brisk narrative is propelled forward by the personalities of five memorable individuals who all wanted and worked for independence…absorbingly readable.”—Fortune
“Removes the veil from the colorful personalities and events behind Indias independence and partition with Pakistan...von Tunzelmann writes with authority and confidence.”—The Washington Post
"[A] captivating group portrait, pulling forth the most telling details of each figure's inner life. . .To have turned an era of such significance and continuing relevance into a page-turner, to both entertain and educate, is an admirable accomplishment."—San Francisco Chronicle
“This brilliantly written, dramatic, and at times controversial account of empire in India is almost impossible to put down. With it, von Tunzelmann has proven herself a force with which to be reckoned, both as a writer and as an historian."—Caroline Elkins, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya
"A brilliantly vivid page-turner that captures the backstage dramas raging on the eve of India's independence."—Tina Brown
Review
“Depicts the swaggering, corrupt, erratic, and often violent years of rule by Fidel Castro of Cuba, Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic, and François Duvalier of Haiti. Suitcases full of cash, torture chambers, gunboats, coups, dictatorship, and revolutionary fervor spill out of these pages….Captures the missile crisis as a frightening and real dance of knives in a dusty Caribbean cockfighting square.” —David E. Hoffman,
The Washington Post “Deftly juggles the stories of three countries---Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic---and their relationships with the superpowers, where things were not as they seemed…Von Tunzelmann tells stories so bizarre as to be beyond any but the most grotesque horror films….It is good to see this tale, so often seen in world terms, as part of a contiguous regional story.” —The Guardian (London)
“A sweeping history…Von Tunzelmann writes with the same verve and range of material she deployed in Indian Summer, a praised treatment of the end of the [Indian] British Empire.” —Financial Times (London)
“A mesmerizing, Conradian tale where the truth is almost too dark to bear. A remarkably gripping popular history.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Von Tunzelmanns diligent work will widen the eyes of cold war buffs.” —Booklist
Praise for Indian Summer“Irresistible . . . A fascinating book that may well change how we look on the benighted world in which we live today.” —Los Angeles Times
“Stirring . . . Von Tunzelmanns brisk narrative is propelled forward by the personalities of five memorable individuals who all wanted and worked for independence. . . . Absorbingly readable.” —Fortune
“[Red Heat] removes the veil from the colorful personalities and events behind Indias independence and partition with Pakistan. . . . Von Tunzelmann writes with authority and confidence.” —The Washington Post
“[A] captivating group portrait, pulling forth the most telling details of each figure's inner life . . . To have turned an era of such significance and continuing relevance into a page-turner, to both entertain and educate, is an admirable accomplishment.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“This brilliantly written, dramatic, and at times controversial account of empire in India is almost impossible to put down. With it, von Tunzelmann has proven herself a force with which to be reckoned, both as a writer and as an historian.” —Caroline Elkins, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya
“A brilliantly vivid page-turner that captures the backstage dramas raging on the eve of India's independence.” —Tina Brown
Synopsis
From the
New York Times Bestselling Author of
Indian Summer During the presidencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson, the Caribbean was in crisis. While the United States and the Soviet Union acted out the worlds tensions on Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, the powerbrokers of these three critical island nations---the Castro brothers, Che Guevara, Rafael Trujillo, and François "Papa Doc" Duvalier---had ambitions of their own. Steeped in new material and eyewitness reports, Red Heat is an authoritative account of a wildly dramatic and dangerous era of international politics that has unmistakable resonance today.
About the Author
Alex von Tunzelmann is the author of Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean and Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire. She was educated at Oxford and lives in London.