[CUBA-REVOLUTION]
Expedicion y Desembarco del "Granma"--cover title. [Havana: after 1959]. Original printed black wrappers, sewn at the spine. 4 x 6 1/2 inches (10 x 16 cm); title leaf, signed by Fidel Castro, with the stamp "Operacion Granma Habana/Ejecutivo," followed by 41 leaves reproducing the images of the participants of the raid. Covers worn.
An extraordinary piece of memorabilia originating from the earliest days of the Cuban revolution, signed by Castro. The Granma, a private yacht, transported 82 Cuban fighters from Mexico to Cuba in November 1956 in an attempt to overthrow the Batista regime. The group (which included Fidel Castro, his brother, Raul Castro, and Che Guevara) later came to be known collectively as Los expedicionarios del yate Granma. They made landfall on December 2 of 1959. The rebels were ambushed at Alegria de Pio on December 5, and many of the 82 were killed. Ultimately, only twelve of the party, including the Castros and Guevara, evaded Batista's army and made the comparative shelter of the Sierra Maestra Mountains, where they built support for their movement. After the success of the Cuban revolutionary forces in 1959, the yacht Granma became an object of veneration, and is housed at the Museum of the Revolution in Havana. WorldCat shows two copies, both at Florida institutions, neither signed. A very significant item of Cuban interest.