Customer Reviews

Cuba: A Revolution in Motion

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"Cuba: A Revolution in Motion" by Isaac Saney offers a balanced, intelligent and highly accessible look at the current condition of the Cuban Revolution. Professor Saney's work shatters the mainstream caricature of Cuba as a nation that history has left behind. To the contrary, the author describes the dynamic and ongoing processes through which the Cuban people have struggled to achieve social justice. As Dr. Saney has demonstrated in this excellent book, the modern Cuban experience is without doubt one of the most remarkable stories of our time, offering insights about how humanity might secure a more peaceful, stable and liveable world.

Dr. Saney is an Associate Director at Henson College, Dalhousie University in Canada. He is a frequent visitor to Cuba and conducts scholarly work in the fields of international development, political economy and law. The author is skilled at explaining Cuban political philosophy and helps us understand how the Cuban decision making process reflects the collectivist values of its society.

The book has six chapters. The first is about the history of Cuba especially as it relates to slavery, U.S. economic dominance and Cuba's dependence on the Soviet Union. The so-called 'Special Period' that began as the result of the collapse of the U.S.S.R. is also covered in detail. Dr. Saney tells us that despite extreme economic hardship and mounting hostility from the U.S., the Revolution has been reaffirmed by the Cuban people. The author describes the many reforms that have been implemented in order to stabilize the economy and ensure that commitments to social justice remain intact for all its citizens.

The second chapter discusses governance, perhaps one of the most misunderstood aspects of modern Cuban society. Dr. Saney states that the goal of the Cuban political system is to "extend democracy to both the political and economic spheres" by enshrining these rights in its constitution. In practice, free elections, unions and mass organizations allow for Cuban democracy to act as a force that shapes society from the bottom-up.

Chapter three addresses race and inequality. Dr. Saney shows us how Cuba has transformed itself from a highly-stratified society to one of the most egalitarian in the world. The author contends that the Cuban state's eradication of the economic basis of racism offers proof that the "abolishment of the capitalist order [is] an indispensable step towards the elimination of racism".

Chapter four is on the topic of crime and justice. Chapter five is about U.S. and Cuban history with an emphasis on recent events. While the Cuban justice system as described by Dr. Saney appears to compare favorably to most others in Latin America, ongoing U.S. hostility has meant that Cuba must make special provisions in its law to protect itself. If Cuba is to be castigated for punishing mercenaries, spies and other aggressors, then it is not unreasonable for the U.S. to cease its ongoing economic embargo, subversive activities and hostile rhetoric.

The final chapter focuses on the lessons learned from the Cuban experience. Dr. Saney discusses Cuba's significant contributions to the world community in organic farming, biotechnology and health care. Other noteworthy accomplishments that the author highlights include the Cuban military's support of Angola (which was a critical factor in freeing the South African people from apartheid) and the leadership role that Cubans have played in various international human rights organizations. The author also believes that the Cuban people will be successful in protecting socialism even as it opens its economy to foreign investment.

Cuba is not a perfect society, but Dr. Saney has amply demonstrated in this book that Cuba's vitality continues to pose a challenge to the "inherent injustice and unsustainability" of capitalism. I encourage everyone to read this outstanding book to learn more about the Cuban experience and to gain insight into how we might secure a better future for all.

In this literary composition, brief yet comprehensive, Isaac Saney is making the case that:

"The Cuban experience offers significant insights into not only a different paradigm, but a paradigm that has largely been successful--especially given the objective limitations of a small, poor, underdeveloped island nation--in utilizing the country's resources and wealth for the public good."

Saney's work shows a deep understanding of history and the difficult, complex and contradictory process involved in the transformation of underdeveloped countries, from poverty and backwardness into more sustainable, developed and just societies.

As he stated, "For Cubans, history has not yet met its `end'. The present is not detached from what has preceded it. This is the context that frames the oft-repeated slogan, `Socialism or death'..."

Any attentive reader may point out that Saney's work appears to be too sympathetic to Cuba. Such a reader may have a valid point.

Notwithstanding, the said alert, objective reader may also concede that the main argument presented in the book is carefully researched and presented.

Although Saney resides in the high tower of academia, his writing style borders on down-to-earth journalistic. Not completely, but he has made the book comprehensible by the broadest cross-section of readers.

"Cuba A Revolution in Motion" is a good book. I recommend it highly!

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Great book and in my opinion it should be required reading for anyone who truly wants some insight into the situation in Cuba. I find it facinating to read about what Cuba was like before the revolution ("The American Mafia's whorehouse") and the great changes that have happened since those days thanks to heroes like Fidel and Che. Very insightful!

After reading the negative reviews from the negative people I thought I better read this book.

I could tell the one-star team didn't want people to actually read the book, and I wonder if they read it.

No one book can tell you everything about a country or such a complex political situation, but this book is goes a long way in presenting ideas that are not generally expressed, especially in U.S. publications.

This book is well written, interesting and has a valuable bibliography.

By the way, Dalhousie University is not a "no name" college, as claimed by one of the negative reviewers. Dalhousie is consistently named among Canada's top research universities.

This is the most complete, concise and thoughtful look at Cuba available in any media form. If you can only read one book about Cuba, this is it.

The seller of the book I ordered was very prompt in sending me my product in excellent condition.

Please read this book with caution. As has been stated before, the author, Isaac Saney, shares the views of Castro's regime, and says so here: http://www.sevenoaksmag.com/features/17_cuba.html

Furthermore, there are several gaps in logic. The first is Saney's insistence that Cuba improved because of Castro's Revolution in health care, literacy rates, etc. However, he does not explain why this "socialist utopia" has the highest political incarceration rate per capita (higher than Stalinist Russia) and has thousands of Cubans trying to escape to the US (with 77,000 dying on the journey.) Since I assume these people are not fleeing from good health care, Saney is obviously wrong in some part of his evaluation.

Secondly, Saney states that equality between the races increased because of the Revolution. This very interesting because Batista, the President that Castro overthrew, was black himself (which Saney never mentions). Furthermore, as of now, 80% of Cuba's prisoners are black, whereas its government hierarchy is 100% white. Obviously, this equality is non-existent, and Saney is again misinformed.

These great inconsistencies can be explained by noting that one of Saney's main sources is Fidel Castro himself. As can easily be seen, on almost every page is at least one statistic attributed to Castro. These statistics are presented as absolute truth, apparently without any thought that Castro might be lying.

Therefore, on a whole, Saney is revealed as a naive socialist who is too enamored by Castro's policies to see his monstrosities. So much for caring about "the people".

This book is a complete joke. Saney' book entirely ignores the cold hard facts about Cuba, with its obvious pro-Castro slant (though he vehemently denies it). I have yet to see a review on ANY unbiased website that praises the book. This book is 100% socialist propaganda from a hack professor at some no-name Canadian college.

The book focuses on the "Special Period" of Cuba history, from the fall of the Soviet Union up to the present, discussing the "gains of the revolution." Anyone who has studied pre-Castro Cuba knows that Cuba actually had a world class economy, health care, and education system before the revolution. It was not the decrepit hell-hole Castro and his supporters want you to believe it was.

Still don't want to believe it? Based on statistics provided by the United Nations, in 1959 Cuba's health care system was better than France, Germany, and Japan's. Today those countries are head and shoulders above Cuba.

Saney has no idea what the real world is like. He is so enveloped in the Castro cult that he has completely denied the testimonials of people like Leonel Cordova Rodriguez (a Cuban doctor sent to Zimbabwe and then kidnapped by the Cuban government in 2001) who testified before the UN as to the poor conditions of health care in Cuba. And people like Dr. Hilda Molina, an internationally recognized neurosurgeon in Cuba, who has testified on numerous occasions as to how "medical tourism" is further destroying Cuba's already poor health care system.