The Granma was approaching, slowly. The boat had lost nearly a day plowing through rough seas off the Yucatán peninsula, and only passed the western tip of Cuba, at the remote end of Pinar del Rio Province, at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 29. It then made even slower headway as it traveled east the length of Cuba, following a safe route, far to the south of the island and well out of view of the Coast Guard. Friday, while they were still on this route, their radio had picked up news of the Santiago uprising, but there was no way to increase speed and make up for lost time. Finally, they had seen their beacon, the light at Cabo Cruz, on the night of the 1st, and set course for it. | more…

Celia Sánchez is the missing actor of the Cuban Revolution. Although not as well known in the English-speaking world as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, Sánchez played a pivotal role in launching the revolution and administering the revolutionary state. She joined the clandestine 26th of July Movement and went on to choose the landing site of the Granma and fight with the rebels in the Sierra Maestra. She collected the documents that would form the official archives of the revolution, and, after its victory, launched numerous projects that enriched the lives of many Cubans, from parks to literacy programs to helping develop the Cohiba cigar brand. All the while, she maintained a close relationship with Fidel Castro that lasted until her death in 1980. | more…

Fred Magdoff is co-author (with John Bellamy Foster) of What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism and professor emeritus of plant and soil science at the University of Vermont. This panel discussion (with Daniel Fireside and Lawrence Susskind) was sponsored by the Technology and Culture Forum at MIT on 11 March 2013. Video by Doug Greene. | more…

Michael Heinrich’s book, An Introduction to the Three Volumes of Karl Marx’s Capital, (Monthly Review Press 2012) is a lucid and refreshing theoretical interpretation of Marxist political economy. Apparently, it has gone through nine editions in Germany and is used widely in German universities. Heinrich takes inspiration from the “neue Marx Lektüre” (new Marx reading) of Capital. The result is one of best introductions to Capital for the new reader, but also many sophisticated clarifications for those who who’ve already read some Marx. | more…

The book is a tribute to Walter Rodney’s short but inspiring life which started and ended in Guyana, with periods in Jamaica, London and Tanzania as well as brief visits to the USA and Zimbabwe before his brutal assassination in 1980, aged only 38. Walter A Rodney: A Promise of Revolution is a collection of personal memories of friends and revolutionaries from around the world. | more…

The death of Hugo Chávez saddens those struggling for a better world. He was a great champion of the impoverished workers and peasants of both Venezuela and the world, and a steadfast and bold critic of the rapacious and murderous imperialism of the United States. Monthly Review Press is proud of the books we have published on Venezuela, books which describe, analyze, and show solidarity with the Venezuelan road to democratic socialism. | more…

Marta Harnecker is the author of Understanding the Venezuelan Revolution, an extended interview with Hugo Chávez, published by Monthly Review Press. This was originally published in The Bullet #778 by the Socialist Project of Canada. | more…

Eva Golinger, author of Bush versus Chávez, published by Monthly Review Press, discusses the legacy of Hugo Chávez on CNN. Eva Golinger is an attorney and writer from New York, living in Caracas, Venezuela, since 2005. | more…

Nancy Stout is the author of One Day in December: Celia Sánchez and the Cuban Revolution, published by Monthly Review Press. She was interviewed by our friends at New York University Press about the making of her book, doing research in Cuba, Celia’s life and relationship with Fidel Castro, and more! | more…

Jeb Sprague is the author of Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti, published by Monthly Review Press. This article was printed in ¡Presente!, the newspaper of the movement to close the School of the Americas. | more…

Join Fred Magdoff for a discussion of “The Environmental Crisis and Capitalism” on March 11 at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and a discussion of “Depletion of the World’s Resources” on April 8 in Troy, New York. Fred, a frequent contributor to Monthly Review and MR Press author, is professor emeritus of plant and soil science at the University of Vermont. He is author of numerous articles and books on agriculture, world food problems, and the environment. He is coauthor with John Bellamy Foster of What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism. | more…

Nothing makes me more hopeful than discovering another human being to admire. My wonder at the life of Celia Sánchez, a revolutionary Cuban woman virtually unknown to Americans, has left me almost speechless. In hindsight, loving and admiring her was bound to happen, once I knew her story. Like Frida Kahlo, Zora Neale Hurston, Rosa Luxemburg, Agnes Smedley, Fannie Lou Hamer, Josephine Baker, Harriet Tubman, or Aung San Suu Kyi, Celia Sánchez was that extraordinary expression of life that can, every so often, give humanity a very good name. | more…