Customer Reviews

Cuba and the United States: A Chronological History (new ed 1996)

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Jane Franklin, one of the few honest writers on Cuba, gives us a extremely important history of Cuba. As someone who is interested in the Cuban Revolution, I was particularly surprised at her numerous and lengthy citations of Terrorism on Cuba. Cuban Exile terrorism from Miami, backed by the CIA with the full knowledge of the US government. This terrorism has claimed thousands of lives which include foreign diplomats, tourists whose sole crime seems to consist of 'being at the wrong place at the wrong time', the bombing of an airplane of 1976 killing everyone on board, government officials, and of course, ordinary Cuban civilians.

With Bush's jingoistic "war on Terrorism" this is a particularly useful resource for those of us that realize that the US has their own terrorists as well. Bush's daddy even pardoned notorious , self confessed Cuban Exile terrorist Orlando Bosch, the man responsible for the 1976 airlplane bombing that claimed the lives of 76 men, women and children. Even when the FBI and Justice Department classified him as a 'serieal terrorist', Bush still pardoned him. Now , his son, Dubya, tells the world "If you HARBOR terrorists, you are one!" I assume that Bush was not speaking in front of his father, the CIA or in the city of Miami at the time.

Thanks to the prodding of extreme right wing Cuban Exile Congresswoman, Ileana Ros Lehtinen, this serial terrorist now walks in Miami among those that call him a "freedom fighter" Remember the whole Elian debacle? When Lehtinen and Cuban Exile congressmen staged huge rallies in Miami telling us how much they cared about THIS 6 year old boy? But where is the outrage of all the little children that were in the airplane that Bosch had bombed? As well as the other innocent children that have died as a result of Cuban Exile terrorism backed by the Congressman and the CIA?

Are you reading this and don't have any idea of what I am talking about? Well, then you know why this book is so important.

I read many books about Cuba and its relationship to the Untied States and most always Franklin's work enhances my reading of them. When an author refers to some event that ramifies to the relationship of Cuba and the USA, I check its date against the events during that period as chronicled in Franklin's work. Often this deepens my understanding of the event I am studying or it indicates that I should understand the event differently from the author's description or interpretation of it. I suspect Franklin intended her book to be used as a tool in just this way.

Franklin's book is essential for any serious student of Cuban political studies.

This book covers about 600 years of history, the last 40 in almost day-by-day detail. A unique feature of the book is its calendar format: news events are given in order, grouped by month and year. This format allows events to be viewed in as broad a perspective as the reader desires. It also allows the reader to sidestep the mire of opinion in which even the shortest Cuba writings are invariably bogged (let's face it, opinion is hard to avoid). The calendar format enables "just-the-facts" analysis and cross-referencing of events.

For all its amazing breadth, this book does have a drawback: Although the book presents itself as a chronicle of historical events without opinion or commentary, after reading it one gets the idea that the Cuban revolutionary government has not made a single error in its public policy since 1959 - that all the tensions have been the result of U.S. interference. On the other hand, the book itemizes inconsistencies in U.S. public policy in detail. That seems odd regardless of one's political leanings on the matter. If the author believes that to be false, then where are the "dirty details"? If she believes it to be true, then it is hard not to conclude that the book is loosely propagandistic. That I have seen it for sale in Cuba is in itself not incriminating, although it does seem to underscore the argument that the book has a propagandistic current. When else are issues of national integrity so clear-cut?

This slant is unfortunate because it seems inconsistent with the ambitious and commendable goals of the book. Fortunately the perspective is a useful one. After all, would another type of source document the acts of U.S. terrorism against Cuba quite so thoroughly? It is indeed eye-opening, and the treatment is authoritative. As a college Spanish professor who has been to Cuba several times I do recommend this book as a cornerstone of anyone's pre-trip reading.

Franklin is entitled to her opinions just like every one else. But if her opinions about Castro as expressed on CNN to Connie Chung on December 4, 2002, are any indication of her style as an author, look for this book, like all of her others, to be laced with a predisposed bias. If you really must read it, borrow it from the public library, or from someone you know who has a copy and doesn't object to lending it to you. But don't waste your money on it unless you have money and shelf space to burn.

If you are looking for a competent, professional look at Cuba and its relationship with the United States go elsewhere.