José Martí : architect of Cuba's freedom / Peter Turton.

Includes a brief chronology of Martí's life (pages 150 - 152). Additionally includes one appendix (pages 147 - 149) detailing the neo-Kantian philosophical theory, Krauism, that attracted Martí in his travels in Spain.

"Dr. Turton - the author of this original and readable portrait - has taught at various universities and polytechnics in Britain, Canada, and Cuba. He has also published articles on Latin America literature in English and Spanish. His book will be particularly useful in courses dealing with the history of Latin America political thought and Cuban history." -- from book jacket

Includes bibliographical references (pages 153-154) and index (pages 155 - 157).

Part I : Martí and Cuban independence / Early formative years (Cuban imprisonment and Spanish Exile) -- The restless years (Martí in Spanish America, the Guerra Chiquita and first experiences of the United States) -- Early skirmishes in the United States (the break with Gómez and Maceo) -- Martí ends his isolation (laying the ground for the revolutionary party) -- Martí in Florida amongst Cuban tobacco workers -- The Cuban revolutionary party -- The final years (1892 - 1895) -- Postscript ( the final years a resumé of events) --

Part II : Martí and Latin America / Mexico -- Guatemala -- Interlude in the United States -- Venezuela -- The most painful exile (Martí in the United States 1881 - 1885) --

Part III : Martí and the great crisis of labour in the United States / Some introductory comments -- Martí's views on the United States before the Haymarket Affair -- The Haymarket Affair.

"José Martí is probably - Fidel Castro apart - the most significant and well-known figure in Cuban history. This new portrait looks at him as both thinker and man of action, within the context of his own country, Cuba, as well as Latin America as a whole and the United States. Its author, Dr. Peter Turton, has spent several years putting this study together. He avoids the hagiographical tendencies of many biographers; instead he shows Martí to be a contradictory man, and presents him in the round, warts and all. A progressive thinker for his time, undoubtedly, but - so Turton argues - also constrained by his ideological universe, in particular the neo-Kantian philosophy of Krauism that he acquired during his time in Spain. Subsequent experience, however, drove Martí towards a less idealist position. In particular, what he saw in the United States of the 1880's and 1890's impelled him to oppose its nascent monopoly capitalism and open imperialism in Latin America. Contact with the Cuban working class, similarly, radicalized his social philosophy and led him to conceive of a liberated Cuban Republic which, whilst not socialist, would avoid the worst evils of the capitalist system. His attempts to achieve unity amongst Latin American nations, in the face of their domineering neighbor to the north, likewise intensified as the imperialist threat became increasingly evident. Most writers see Martí as an eclectic thinker, or a kind of proto-socialist. Dr Turton shows him to be neither, although he would probably have welcomed the establishment of socialism in present-day Cuba since this was the only way his ideas on the running of a free Cuba would be put into practice. Even though he did not envisage socialism for the independent Cuban Republic, since he believed it to be premature at that time, he is clearly a forerunner of the present Cuban revolutionary leadership." -- from the book jacket