Customer Reviews

The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics (The Latin America Readers)

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I have always been interested in Cuba, but I have tended to focus on the Health System there and have learned very little about Cuba before Castro and the revolution. This book gives an overall picture of Cuba as it developed through the years from all different perspectives, both positive and negative. Even though the different sections are simply short excerpts from different works, the editors have been able to put everything together in order to show all different aspects of Cuba and its history.

This is the best documentary history of Cuba printed recently. It has not only documents, but also pictures, songs, etc. As Cuba is a controversial subject, the authors give broad swath of documents to present Cuban history.

I couldn't put the book down. Perhaps because I miss my country so much.
The book is so accurate I actually traveled back in time.
I totally recommend this read especially to those whose nostalgia for the old country continues to glow.


Andrew J. Rodriguez
Award-winning author: "Adios, Havana," a Memoir

`The Cuba Reader' is a simply outstanding anthology of Cuban speeches, legal texts, poems, fiction, essays, photography, historical analysis and more besides. It starts at pre-colonial Cuba and looks at the indigenous population, before moving onto the slavery and sugar plantations, the Batista regime, the revolution, all the way up to the `special period'. This isn't quite a coherent narrative of events in Cuba (rather lots of snap shots of various aspects of Cuban life), but coupled with a good history (Like `Cuba: A New History' by R Gott) this makes for a wonderfully rounded view of this fascinating country. The speeches are particularly interesting to read, as are the interviews with Cubans which gives a deeper insight into their country. I love how the book flowed from essay to poem, to fiction exert and then political text, to a landmark speech and then back to a poem (for example). It makes for an engaging and rounded insight into the various facets of Cuban society. If you have already read about Cuba and have a thirst for more information then this is highly recommended and if you want a clear narrative history of the country, try the aforementioned book, but make sure you come back and look at this, as it is truly fascinating, well researched and great to dip in and out of.

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