The Strategic Victory, which tells the story of how a few hundred revolutionaries under Castro’s command defeated the Cuban army in 1958, will be published in August. Castro told Cuban website cubadebate.cu that the book will include photographs, maps and plans of the guerilla war against the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro, 83, said that he started writing the memoirs after he fell ill in 2006 and handed power to his brother Raul. The book took several months to complete, he said.

The book will include a short autobiography in which the former president details his childhood and describes how he became a guerrilla fighter. “I did not want to wait to respond to the numerous questions about my childhood, adolescence and youth and how I became a revolutionary and armed combatant”, Castro wrote.

After a long period out of the public eye since his illness, Mr Castro, who turns 84 next month, has made seven public appearances in recent weeks, including three televised speeches.

For the original report go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/7913768/Fidel-Castro-to-release-first-volume-of-memoirs.html