Raúl Eduardo Chao received his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University and, after a brief stint in the industry, he spent 18 years in the academic world as Full Professor and Director of the Departments of Chemical Engineering at the Universities of Puerto Rico and Detroit. In 1986, he founded The Systema Group and as president of that consulting company he has written half a dozen books on science and business administration, numerous articles and a score of books on the History of Cuba. He and his wife, Olga, live in Lakeland, Florida.

Upon hearing of the October 10, 1868 uprising, Máximo Gómez presented himself at the Cuban camps as a soldier, without mentioning his military knowledge. In just a few weeks he was awarded the rank of Sergeant and at the end of the war of 1895 he was identified as one of the most capable leaders of the Cuban Liberation Army. The Spaniards themselves recognized him as "... the greatest guerrilla fighter in America." This is a story of the Cuban Wars of Independence, narrated by General Máximo Gómez himself in his Campaign Diary.