Rating: 
Summary: a must read for every American Patriot
Review: I have read about most of the "Gulags" of the past Century - the bloodiest century ever - yet found that this book was the most moving. Maybe since it happened right in our backyard. Maybe since I grew up during this time. Maybe since Castro is still alive. Maybe since he has not been brought to justice. As I read, I laughed and I cried. I mostly just ached. Dont tell me about the inherent goodness of mankind. May Communism and it dupes drop into the deepest part of the sea and never be seen again.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Eyeopener
Review: I tend to prefer a good nonfiction survival story, and this was one of the best I have ever read. Most people in survival situations are there without choice, Armando Validares along with a segment of Cuban society were imprisoned because they valued their freedom of thought in a Cuban society intolerant of dissent. These political prisoners have only to accept the garb of a common prisoner or attend political re-education classes to receive better treatment. The author and fellow prisoners endured inhumane tortures because of their belief and values. The prisoners have maintained their courage, defiance, and solidarity for years while undergoing all that Castro's regime can bear upon them to make them yield. It is truly heroic. During many of the beatings the prisoners would still manage to yell an anti-communist slogan or quote a Bible verse to the enraged guards. This book demonstrates the willpower a human being has to value an idea or goal above life itself. The ordeal, while completed by the author is continuing for many of his comrades and fellow citizens. Other interesting aspects of this book show a wider view of the struggle such as, the inner workings of the Castro regime, and highlights the deception of his political statements denying the existence of political prisoners. It also shows the force of world opinion and organizations such as the UN and Amnesty International upon Totalitarian governments. All in all, the main effect of this book was a deep admiration for these prisoners holding to a principle while enduring all that a modern totalitarian government can bring to bear upon them. These men routinely have the basics of life withheld, clothing, warmth, food, water, and sleep, but still they endure and refuse to buckle under. They remain true to their conscience. Common criminals and civilians employed in the prisons routinely are touched enough to help these political prisoners because their condition is so pathetic. The Castro Regime's answer to this is to have these prisoners isolated and tended to by militant party members only. Still threads of news managed to reach the outside world to inform it of the existence of these political prisoners and their actions. The fact that this has gone on and is continuing close to American shores really hits home. This book is now my standard for judging all other survival books. I give it the highest rating. Very well done. It is a story that had to be told. World notoriety made it very unlikely that the author could quietly die in a Cuban prison and world appeals to release him finally made Castro relent. This is his story of twenty-two years in the Cuban penal system.
Rating:
Summary: A testament of the endurance of the human spirit
Review: In 1960, Armando Valladares was arrested in Cuba for being opposed to communism on philosophical and religious grounds. He was kept in the Isla de Pinos prison. His imprisonment was hallmarked by violence, putrid food, squalid living conditions, and the psychological torture of listening to Castro's firing squads eliminating "counter revolutionaries" in the courtyard below his cell. Valladares retained his sanity by prayer and the writing of poetry. It was the publication of his poetry in Europe and America which brought his condition to such international figures as French President Francois Mitterand and numerous human rights organizations. It was the constant pressure of such individuals and international organizations upon the Castro regime that finally led to Valladares release in 1982. Against All Hope is a testament of the endurance of the human spirit in the face of totalitarianism and inhumanity. The 426 pages of text are enhanced with photographs. This new Encounter books edition of a classic prison narrative had been out of print for fifteen years and is a welcome addition to political science, Latin American, and human rights studies, prison literature reading lists, and autobiography collections.
Rating:
Summary: A Gripping Testimonial
Review: In this autobiographical narrative of his twenty-two years as a Cuban political prisoner, Valladares graphically recounts the executions, beatings and sadistic tortures that became commonplace in Cuba's prisons. During his "travels" within the vast Cuban prison complex, Valladares crosses paths with the "Plantados," the brave men and women who refused "reeducation" inside Castro's jails, and who paid a terrible price as a result. More than a recounting of the horrors of Cuba's gulag, this book is an inspiring testimonial to the capacity of faith and love to overcome hatred and extreme cruelty. Sixteen years after its original publication, Against All Hope remains the authoritative English-language account of the worst abuses committed by the Castro regime. It adds yet another devastating chapter to the growing body of documentation on the crimes of totalitarianism in the 20th century. No one who reads this book will ever again see Fidel Castro and his revolution in the same light.
Rating: 
Summary: A Spiritual Book - not a history book
Review: Let me state that this book covers tragic and compelling barbarism undertaken by the Castro regime. From death and despair come on of the most remarkable tales of Christian faith ever told. I will never reach the depths of faith of Armando Valladares, but I profoundly try to understand the depths of his faith. When I use the word "profound", it doesn't express the religious strength this book possesses.
Rating:
Summary: Cuba's reality
Review: This is book should be required text. It is an in depth account of the torture suffered by many under the oppressive dictatorship of the Castro regime. Those who would try to sympathize with the communist-dictatorship should read this real life account of a man with the courage to stand up for human rights and freedoms in a country where neither of these is respected. In vivid detail, you live through Mr. Valladares' horrific experience and get to celebrate in the strength of the human spirit.
Rating:
Summary: A Raw Look At Tyranny
Review: This is the most engaging book I have ever read. Once you start reading it you will not be able to put it down. In my view, it is as much of a classic as Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago. Due to the nature of the unspeakable horros vividly described by the eyewitness author, it is not a book for the faint of heart, and yet, it is a book that every American should read! Some day, this book will be universally recognized as one of the greatest works by a Cuban author.
Rating:
Summary: And this is the Castro of the Elian Gonzalez saga?
Review: When I read this book I had to put it down at least seven different times; the barbaric cruelty of the jailers was that upsetting. For little more than a token show of distaste for Marxism, Valladares was imprisoned under the harshest conditions imaginable. The mind numbing sadism goes on chapter after chapter until you can't imagine how a man could put up with it. Valladares, thru sheer faith and belief that he'll survive, finds a way to survive the drawer cells, the white room, the extended solitary confinement in total darkness, the sleep deprivation, the horrible food, the immersion in a lake of human excrement, the brutal beatings and having to witness fellow prisoners maimed and killed. His health, particularly his lung tissue, was permanently damaged. The description of his injury and its aftermath in the wake of his attempt to escape made me wince repeatedly. Having been on crutches 15 times myself I could feel his pain. God bless Amnesty International for helping to spring this guy. When I read about the excoriation that Ron Radosh and David Horowitz endure from their former communist comrades I want to suggest that the complinants go live in Cuba and ply their demogoguery there. Then they can do time in Castro's jails and give us their opinion about his glorious revolution. Read "Guerilla Prince" by Geyer as a compliment to this book; it's the story of Castro's life. Fidel, whatta guy. Valladares adds to the extensive record of what a horrifying sadist we have ruling an island prison 90 miles from our shores. All American communists-progressives-socialists should read this book, for perspective if nothing else.
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