Latin America@War Series

Cuban Military Aviation, 1952 - 61
by H Higuchi and A Fracchia
Helion & Company

This is a well researched 92 page title covering firstly aerial op's against Castro's guerrillas (almost always unsuccessful) and then the defeat of the septic organised/financed invasion at the Bay of Pigs, backed up by 200+ period b/w photo's and six pages of colour side views. The photo's cover a plethora of aircraft types and markings and few have been previously published - a goldmine for modellers of equipment from minor wars.  The text is detailed and, if one disregards the authors' apparent "red scare" phobia (presumably to curry favour with the septic market), gives quite detailed accounts of the various op's in the period covered. It does not attempt to explain Castro's success except for some vague comments on Batista's corruption, disregarding the widespread poverty caused by large land owners (including the Catholic Church) and the Mafia's extensive "business" interests, or Eisenhower's/Kennedy's instantaneous hatred for the new regime.

Discussion of the  CIA's plans for the invasion is brief but does highlight the "magic" thinking behind many of the decisions (and then repeated in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Iran) but has virtually nothing to say about the motivations of the Cuban exiles.

 Recommended.

Ley Reynolds