Cuba: An American History

This is a serious book about Cuba. It is not an easy read and you'd have to be seriously interested in Cuba to find it worthwhile. That said, it;s by far the best book on Cuba and the United States I have ever read--the author's approach is to emphasize the interconnections between the US and Cuba, which are deeper than most people think. Tampa's cigar industry dates to Cuban exiles in the 1880s and 1890s, and in the Tampa area, Cuban coffee and the Cuban sandwich are common and on many menus. The author's writing is clear and flows very well. Her knowledge of both Cuban and American history is deep and the book is extremely informative. I think progressives will like the book more than conservatives, because she sees villains on both sides of the narrow waters that separate the island from the U.S.

If you like survey histories and don't know much about Cuba (and you live in the US), I highly recommend this book. Not only does it cover key events and forces inside and outside Cuba that have shaped it, it's very readable and with on-the-ground anecdotes and quotes, brings to life how events probably felt to the people in or around them. BUT - to take it a level beyond "interesting & readable history book," I think this type of book is *important* to read. Personally, Cuban history was not covered in my public k-12 education in the US, except for the Cuban missile crisis. And due to the embargo, my knowledge of the place and its people has been pretty minimal. (And I think that is probably a very common experience.) Which is unfortunate, because Cuba is one of the US's few direct neighbors. Our histories, like with Mexico or Canada, are very intertwined. Havana has been a cultural hub for the entire hemisphere for the last 500 years, due to where it sat on the gulf stream trade routes between Europe and the Americas, with as much of a musical influence as NYC and New Orleans. Our relationship with Cuba even shapes presidential elections, or led to a nuclear missile crisis... To ignore it is to miss an important part of our own history, and how you treat your neighbors can cause tragic boomerang impacts. To that point, Ferrer frames Cuba's history as an "American" one, that it is hemispheric and intertwined with the US. What she brought to light (for me as a US citizen) was how the US has hungrily viewed Cuba as a place where we can extend our influence & economy. In that self-absorbed mindset, we've missed seeing Cuba's distinct history. We elbowed into their revolution from Spain and claimed them as a de facto vassal via the Platt Amendment. Then an era of progressive and revolutionary Cuban activism during the first half of the 20th century gained political "independence" from the US, at first from the Platt Amendment, then also economically with the nationalization of US-owned holdings under Castro. And thus relations deteriorated completely. Obama's effort to reconnect was a step in a new direction, more as partners and neighbors, but that change is doing some zig zags. Ferrer ends on a hopeful note about we all play a part in shaping the future. So as the book wrapped up, I wondered what a voter in the US might do. Even with a rapprochement, the economic imbalance (small poor country adjacent to a juggernaut) yields these high voltage differences that cause shocks when they connect. US investors eagerly bought up land & plantations a century ago when the revolution had suggested opportunity for all Cubans, then there were flash waves of migrants over the last sixty years. In electric systems you need good transformers that step-down the voltage level, and the question is what could those transformers be between the US and Cuba in the coming decades. No matter what, Cuba is our neighbor. And becoming better neighbors requires getting to know them, empathizing with their perspective, understanding how you're viewed and what your impacts are on them. A book like this is an important part of that journey, and it was great to read. Strongly recommend!

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, Ferrer is an excellent and engaging writer, and gives the reader an impressive recounting of 500 years of Cuban history. The book is definitely worth reading. On the other hand, she seems to have tunnel vision about some of the more troubling aspects of the history of the Cuban government, and I wonder whether her political views have caused her to eliminate important facts. Her central thesis is that Cuba has been a target of repression and manipulation by Western governments, principally the United States, for centuries. This, perhaps unfortunately, leads her to describe the exploits of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara as those of swashbuckling saviors out to protect the little people. As a result, she glosses over the deprivation of due process and the many murders that Castro and Guevara engaged in, which the Cuba Project estimates exceeded 10,000. She does not talk about the regime’s use of concentration camps, or extrajudicial imprisonment. Nor does she talk about the racism discovered in Che’s diaries after his death, particularly about people of color and Mexicans. She writes glowingly about Castro instituting agrarian reform (in other words, confiscation of land), better health care, higher wages, and equality between men and women. But she has no good explanation for the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who fled the country (including on improvised rafts), even before the collapse of the Soviet Union. She tries to get around this by contending first, that some of these people supported Fulgencio Batista, and second (not kidding) that refugees from Cuba were principally unhappy because Castro made them repeat “revolutionary” slogans. That struck me as ridiculous. While she complains a lot about the US meddling in Cuban affairs, she is nonjudgmental about the Soviet Union becoming involved in Cuba, even though the heavy-handed Soviet government kept the entirety of Eastern Europe behind walls. One minor point: She manages to describe the Spanish-American War without mentioning the Battle of San Juan Hill. (In fairness, late in the book, she talks about a painting in the White House depicting the battle.) Yes, the battle was a minor skirmish. Yes, the war was pretty much over when it happened. But a future US President was involved in the Battle, which, I think, merits a couple of paragraphs. What was the battle about? How did TR get there? The bottom line is that this is an important, enjoyable, and well-written book. But I would suggest reading it with a bit of skepticism.

The real History of Cuba. I enjoy reading this book very much and I got to know many facts of the Cuban History they don't teach you in schools. Congratulations to the author for the Pulitzer prize. Very well deserved.

A powerful and eye-opening history lesson As a lifelong history buff, I was stunned by how much I didn’t know. This book opened my eyes to the deep and often disturbing connections between Cuba and the United States. The chapter on Christopher Columbus was particularly revealing, but what truly shocked me was learning how high-level American politicians and wealthy businessmen played a central role in the transatlantic slave trade—long after it was outlawed. It’s a shameful legacy that made me feel embarrassed as an American, especially given how blatantly these actions betrayed the very ideals laid out in the Declaration of Independence. What I appreciated most is how this book helped me see things from a Latin American perspective—something I hadn’t fully grasped before. While I believe the U.S. acted more nobly in the 20th century during the World Wars and the Cold War, the 1800s reveal a predatory, imperialist power that often acted in complete contradiction to its stated values. The writing is superb, and the narrator’s voice (if you’re listening to the audiobook) makes it a pleasure to follow. This book gave me a whole new level of understanding—both of Cuba’s history and of my own country’s role in it.

Wow. Everyone who wants to know the whole story behind how Cuba arrived where it is today should read this.

Great book to know about Cuba

excellent insight and very informative. easy to read. a must read book for every individual