I lived my elementary school years under the Somoza administration, as did my familiy, uncles, cousin, etc. etc through their adult life. I picked this book up to try to make sense of what happened to Nicaragua, and I can say that the testimony of Somoza is all true. Nicaraguans enjoyed all the rights that Americans did. Even those who opposed and attacked his administration. There was no question back then that the Sandinistas were communist. Any citizen that respected life,and liberty did not have any problems with the authorities. Those that claim otherwise did not live in Nicaragua in those years, or was a terrorist him/herself. If Somoza was so bad, NIcaraguans would have exiled in mass like they did after July 19, 1979. Even if the problem was the name "Somoza", the problem could have been constitutionally solved. This was a conspiracy all the way, which turned Nicaragua from a productive society to a welfare state.