Stunning visual history of Castro's rise to power and the triumphant, for some tragic, day he took power on New Year's Day 1959. These rare original negatives and prints made from them originated with a Cuban photographer with access to Castro's shadowy army who was able to smuggle many of the shots to New York where they appeared in the Spanish language newspaper El Imparcial, providing inside glimpses of "La Revolucion" rarely if ever seen elsewhere. Three of the negs are accompanied by the original editions of El Imparcial that carried the pictures on page one, fromJanuary 15th (in which Castro is seen reading a previous issue of the paper hailing his entry to Havana), January 20th (surrounded by supporters) and April 22 (with his motley-looking inner circle). There is also an album bulging with a full set of dozens of negatives and corresponding prints chronicling his victory lap around Havana, including extremely rare shots of him with his brother Raul and Che Guevara and several particularly remarkable scenes of the remnants of Batista's uniformed army exchanging places with Castro's bedraggled, fatigue-clad men outside the presidential palace, and Castro and his henchmen getting off a plane at the airport. Four other prints without negs include Castro on Meet the Press after taking power and one of his mobs posing with rifles pointed in every direction. The 220+ negs average are in beautifully usable condition, photos average VG, newspapers G-VG. Except for a few that are large, prints are 4x5" and most of the negatives are slightly larger. Most of these images have never been seen by the public and comprise an utterly fascinating record of the genesis of the now 56-year-old revolution.