Cuba Reading List
Recommended Reading
by The New York Times
Waiting for Snow in Havana
by Carlos Eire
Mr. Eire’s memoir about his childhood in Cuba and eventual exile won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 2003. The author told The Times that the book was about what’s precious in childhood and how that can be corrupted and blown up and destroyed by political circumstances.
Telex from Cuba:
by Rachel Kushner
Ms. Kushner’s first novel is about a group of American’s prospering in Cuba before Castro’s revolution, and what happens to them when change comes. In the Book Review, Susann Cokal wrote: “Kushner’s sharp observations about human nature and colonialist bias provide a deep understanding of the revolution’s causes”.
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
by Jon Lee Anderson
Mr. Anderson’s book, published in 1997 was the first major biography of the revolutionary. In The Book Review, Peter Canby wrote: ‘Mr. Anderson does a masterly job in evoking Che’s complex character in separating the man from the myth and in describing the critical role Che played in one of the darkest periods of the cold war. Ultimately, however, the strength of his book is in the wealth of detail”.
Trading with the Enemy: A Yankee Travels through Castro’s Cuba
by Tom Miller
Mr. Miller’s account of eight months he spent in Cuba, including run-ins with some well-known people and ordinary citizens.
Bacardi and the Long fight for Cuba:
by Tom Gjelten
The history of Cuba told through the family behind the Bacardi rum Company, founded when Cuba was still a French colony. In a review in The Times, Barry Gewen wrote: “There’s a shelf of histories to consult” about Cuba but it’s hard to imagine that any is as enjoyable as this one”.
The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba:
by Chanel Cleeton
A young woman's imprisonment in 1896 Havana becomes headline fodder for two American newspaper giants fueling U.S. involvement in Cuba's rebellion against brutal Spanish rule. But the story behind the headlines, as told by Chanel Cleeton in her new novel, The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, is an inspirational tale of courage, love, and losses for three unforgettable women.