Bay of Pigs, Blood of Cuba

Written by Thomas Dehel
Review by John H. Manhold

True to the author’s description of his book being “a fairly accurate depiction of truth with an overlay of fiction,” Dehel presents an account of the disastrous attempt by Cuban refugees to take back their country from Fidel Castro in 1961. The author describes the part played by such figures as Dulles, Stevenson, President Kennedy, the CIA, members of the Joint Chiefs, heroic volunteers, and members of the Cuban movement. By making some of the story’s prominent figures fictional, Dehel provides a framework to draw readers into the entire project.

The author states in his epilogue that this is the first volume in a projected “Trilogy of Betrayal,” with the second book covering the Cuban Missile Crisis and the third, the Kennedy assassination. For readers who remember these events, this book may allow for re-examination and perhaps re-evaluation. For all readers, it presents a fascinating story.