Cuba Or The Pursuit Of Freedom [Paperback]

Hugh Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 1998

This first-time paperback edition, now updated, describes and analyzes Cuba's history from the English capture of Havana in 1762 through Spanish colonialism, American imperialism, the Cuban Revolution, and the Missile Crisis to Fidel Castro's defiant but precarious present state.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hugh Thomas is the author of The Spanish Civil War, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés, and the Fall of Old Mexico, and, most recently, The Slave Trade.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1710 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Updated edition (March 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306808277
• ISBN-13: 978-0306808272
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,296,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history., September 27, 1998

By 

WD Grissom (Cabot, Arkansas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cuba Or The Pursuit Of Freedom (Paperback)

Don't be intimidated by the bulk of the book. Despite its imposing weight (some 1700 pages), Thomas' magisterial history of Cuba is a pleasure to read, combining painstaking scholarship with a marvelous narrative facility, even rendering palatable the inevitable statistics.
Americans unfamiliar with Cuban history (that would be most of us), may be surprised at the close intertwining of U.S. and Cuban histories, with involvement by Robert E. Lee's nephew Fitzhugh, Jefferson Davis, and Dan Sickles, Meyer Lansky, and Eldridge Cleaver, in addition to the better known roles of the Roosevelts (both), and the yellow press barons.
With photos, decent maps, useful appendices, and an excellent index, Thomas' work is highly recommended to history readers, students of Western Hemisphere affairs, and anyone else interested in that fascinating island.

(The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Need a new Doorstop?, March 8, 2004

By 

David W. Nicholas (Van Nuys, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cuba Or The Pursuit Of Freedom (Paperback)

I've never read much about the history of Cuba or its politics, but I have enjoyed other books written by Hugh Thomas, and thought I might give this one a shot also. I will further confess that sometimes large books have a sort of fascination for me, and this is the largest single volume narrative I've ever seen: the book is 1710 pages long, and of that 1508 is text. Seriously, 1500+ pages of information on something is bound to be fascinating. If there are some errors here and there, it's to be expected, isn't it? I myself noticed a few typos, and a couple of minor inaccuracies involving American history, but I won't quibble.

The fascinating thing about the book is the author's ability to focus on Cuban history over what's a relatively short period of time. The heart of the narrative concentrates on the period between the end of the Seven Years' War (when the island was occupied for almost a year by the British) and the spot just about exactly 200 years later when the Cuban Missile Crisis ended. There is a parade of personalities, from Maceo and Marti to Guevera and of course Castro, lengthy discussion of the sugar crop and things like coffee, cigars, and rice, and discussion of everything from unions to industry to political parties and the church. All of this is wonderfully conveyed, with much detail and authenticity. The prose is a bit wordy at times, but overall the book is very readable and accessible.

I enjoyed this book a great deal, but I will tell you that there's a mountain of information here, and it can be a bit tough to get through. The title of my review is funny, but it's also realistic: this is probably more than most people wish to know on the subject of Cuba. For those who are interested, though, it's worth the effort.

66 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A poor informative history of Cuba and its people, July 25, 2002

By 

Juan C. Soto (Miami, Florida USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cuba Or The Pursuit Of Freedom (Paperback)

As a historian I find it incredible how gullible people still are about Cuba and its history. It is sad that such a respectible historian as Hugh Thomas can come up with a book that is fraught with mistakes. I like to know from what history source did Mr. Thomas find that Donato Marmol was black? Marmol was a (white) Major General in the Cuban Liberation Army. Thomas also writes that Jose Marti's successor as provisional president of the Republic was Salvador Betancourt Cisneros, Marquis of Santa Lucia. Well, Marti was never provisional president of the Republic to begin with, and the correct name of the Marquis of Santa Ana is Salvador Cisneros Betancourt. In reference to the Catholic Church, I would like to know where did Thomas get the information that there were no religious seminars in Cuba? To mention just a few: Calvario (Jesuits), Santa Maria del Rosario (La Salle), Santiago de las Vegas (Franciscans), Arroyo Naranjo (salesians), La Vibora (Maristas). In addition, the fabricated statement he made on priests doesn't even merit an answer. I would also like to know what official document (from the Catholic Church) did Thomas use to obtain the information that Jose Marti was excommunicated? That never happened. Also, Alberto Muller was never Minister of Commerce and his uncle Monsignor Muller was never Bishop of Matanzas, but of Cienfuegos. I also would like to know where Thomas came up with the information that Cuba did not use fertilizers before 1959? Unfortunately, I dont have enough space to mention all the errors I found in this book. Overall, Thomas' book is full of biases, misinformation, and propaganda. If you do buy this book, please look into other reference materials, such as State Department's Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, UN's Statistical Yearbook, US Department of Commerce, Direction of Trade Statistics (Washington: International Monetary Fund and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), Demographics Yearbook: Historical Supplement (United Nations), Energy Statistics Yearbook (United Nations), UNFAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Productions Yearbook), World Bank (Internationa Bank for Reconstruction and Development 1951 report on Cuba, Washington IBRD. I can only say that this book has no merit whatsoever. It completely misleads those that have no knowledge about Cuba prior to 1959.