Cuba Books - Page 2

1000 Mile Walk to the Gulf

John Muir

Amazon Price: $38.00 List Price: $38.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cherokee Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 20 new & used starting at $28.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Caribbean & West Indies -> Cuba
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Authors, A-Z -> ( M ) -> Muir, John
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Nature Writing

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

John Muir is really underrated as a writer 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

The title sums up quite a bit of the review for me. Not only was he a brilliant naturalist and visionary, but he was a better than decent science and adventure writer. This book, thousand mile walk to the gulf, is from Muir's younger days when he basically dropped out and went exploring. He walked from Wisconsin to the gulf, shortly after the war, and literally slept wherever. Hedges, roadsides, the occasional house. His observations on reconstruction South are all the more insightful because they are unadulterated (is that a word?) by any agenda, and have the overpowering reality of truth.

While his time in the Sierras is what he is most famous for, and the mountains more rugged and inspiring, this pre-Jenkins "Walk Across America" is a tamer warm-up for reading his journals from Yosemite days. I highly recommend it myself, it gives a bit of botany and a lot of background on Muir himself.

Editorial Review:

This book tells of Muir's journey on foot, immediately after the Civil War, from wild Indiana and Kentucky through the war-weary towns of the Carolinas to the Gulf Coast.

The History of Cuba (Palgrave Essential Histories)

Clifford L. Staten

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Palgrave Macmillan Amazon Marketplace: 14 new & used starting at $3.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Caribbean & West Indies -> Cuba
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Central America -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Central America -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Short and Sweet 4 out of 5 stars.
21 of 21 people found this review helpful.

I walked into this book knowing virtually nothing about Cuba, and this book did an excellent job of providing a short overview of modern Cuba. The history begins with the war for independence from Spain, and proceeds through all of the revolutionary movements, through to Castro's takeover, the Soviet relationship with Cuba, and Castro's changing policies. I found it very enlightening, a quick read, and well worth an afternoon! I would have given it a higher rating if it had more unique information, but it keeps the readers interest, and gives a reasonable overview of the politics and economics of the country.

Editorial Review:

Cuba is much more than cigars, classic automobiles, and Castro. This remarkable nation has had a long history of relations with larger political powers that were drawn to the island because of its valuable resources and strategic location. Ties between Cuba and the United States have been strong since the mid-nineteenth century, and the theme of U.S. dominance over the island and its people is a primary historical perspective. Cuba's history is told in eight chronological chapters, from its earliest days as a Spanish colony, through its wars for independence and the U.S. occupation in the twentieth century to Batista, the Cold War, and the so-called "Special Period," when Cuba faced the crisis of the downfall of the Soviet Union. With special emphasis on the twentieth century, the Castro era, and U.S.-Cuba relations, this is the most accessible and current history of Cuba available.

Self Portrait Che Guevara

Ernesto Che Guevara

Amazon Price: $23.01 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Ocean Press Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $15.10

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Photography -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Photography -> General AAS
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Leaders & Notable People -> Political

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

At last, Che on Che! Discover the personal side of the legendary Che Guevara in a way never before revealed to the world. This book includes many unpublished short stories and poems written to his wife and children, as well as photos from the Guevara family album, showing a surprisingly sensitive and artistic side to a man often seen as a hard-line revolutionary.

An enthusiastic amateur photographer, Che's self-portraits are a stunning feature of this selection along with some beautiful short stories, poems, and personal letters, which have just been released from his family's personal archives. Among the innumerable biographies and photo books on Che, this large format, attractively designed book is unique.

Edited by prominent Latin American poet and intellectual Victor Casaus, with the assistance of Che's widow and children.

Publication is planned to coincide with two new Che films (Robert Redford's film on The Motorcycle Diaries and a Steven Soderbergh biopic).

"Che was the most complete human being of our age."—Jean Paul Sartre

The Boys from Dolores: Fidel Castro's Classmates from Revolution to Exile

Patrick Symmes

Amazon Price: $19.67 List Price: $26.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Pantheon Amazon Marketplace: 61 new & used starting at $4.98

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Caribbean & West Indies -> Cuba
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Central America -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Central America -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the author of Chasing Che, the remarkable tale of a group of boys at the heart of Cuba's political and social history. The Boys from Dolores illuminates the elite island society from which Fidel Castro and his brother Raul emerged.
The Colegio de Dolores was a Jesuit boarding school in Santiago, Cuba's rich and ancient second city, where Fidel and Raul were educated in the 1930s and '40s. Patrick Symmes begins his story here, tracking down dozens of Fidel's schoolmates glimpsed in a single period photograph. And it is through their stories--their time at the Colegio; the catastrophic effects of the revolution on their lives; their fates since--that Symmes opens a door onto a Cuba, and a time in Castro’s life, that have been deliberately obscured from us. Here too is the elusive Raúl Castro, a cipher destined to rule Cuba in Fidel’s place.
We see Castro in his formative youth, an adolescent ruling the classrooms of the Colegio and running in the streets of Santiago. Symmes traces the years in which the revolution was conceived, won, and lost, describing the changes it wrought in Santiago and in the lives of Fidel’s own classmates: we follow them through the maelstrom of the 1960s, as most fight to leave Cuba and a few stay behind. And here, in Santiago today, Symmes finds Castro’s most lasting achievement, the creating and sustaining of a myth-soaked revolutionary idealism amid the harshest realities of daily life.
Wholly original in its approach, The Boys from Dolores is a powerfully evocative, eye-opening portrait of Cuba--and of the Castro brothers--in the twentieth century.

The Handsomest Man in Cuba: An Escapade

Lynette Chiang

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Globe Pequot Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $2.02

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Caribbean & West Indies -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Caribbean & West Indies -> General AAS
Subjects -> Travel -> Caribbean -> Cuba -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 45 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

An engaging travelogue 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

In "The Handsomest Man in Cuba: An Escapade" Lynette Chiang wrote about her adventure biking in Cuba. Originally from Sydney, Lynette travelled light with a bicycle that can be folded, a tent, and a few other necessity items for travelling. It was a great way for Lynette to learn about the culture, food, and people in the country. Even though she was a foreigner with U.S. dollars, Lynette was determined not to travel the way Castro expected tourists to; paying exhorbitant amount of money for hotel or food. Most of the time, she stayed with families or friends that she people she met recommended or just if the rooms were cheap. She was able to learn a lot about Cuban families and their way of life in Cuba.

What I like most about the book is that the author was candid about her observation of Cuba, of the poverty and at the same time of the friendliness of the people. Unlike some foreigners, she did not romanticize Cuba. It was most fascinating to read about the characters she met along her journey, which I thought was definitely the highlight of her travelogue. However, I wish that the author shared more about her personal life, and what brought her to Central America in the first place. This would have made the book even more engaging than it already is. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Cuba and the Cuban people. A fantastic summer read.

Editorial Review:

An engaging, witty account of the people, customs, food, and culture of Cuba framed by a fascinating approach to travel. With only a folding bicycle and a towable suitcase, Australian Lynette Chiang spent three months touring Cuba, eshewing tourist hotels and typical iteneraries in favor of an unpredictable day-to-day existence among ordinary citizens. She discovered a people who, despite great privation, are warm, generous—and generally happy. Her narrative covers equally well the challenges of travel on two wheels and the surprises of life in the land of Fidel.

Read more about Lynette at http://www.galfromdownunder.com/cuba/

Time Out Havana: And the Best of Cuba (Time Out Guides)

Time Out

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Time Out Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $7.51

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Travel -> Caribbean -> Cuba -> Havana
Subjects -> Travel -> Caribbean -> Cuba -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Caribbean -> Cuba -> General AAS

Editorial Review:

The Caribbean outpost of communism that is Cuba holds an enduring fascination for the free world, redolent of glamour and gamblers, musicians, writers, and mafiosi. Written by informed residents, Time Out Havana highlights all the vibrancy, cultural richness, and architectural beauty of Havana. Here are authoritative reviews of where to stay — including the rewarding casas particular (private homes) — and play — from colorful salsa joints to hip hop clubs. The city’s renowned cuisine is profiled, including classy cafés and the lively paladars (independent, state-sanctioned, family-run restaurants). Showcasing other Cuban destinations of interest, from beaches to barrios, this third edition features new sidebars, photographs, listings, updated maps, and a new culture chapter for context.

Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana

Stephanie Elizondo Griest

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Villard Amazon Marketplace: 61 new & used starting at $3.19

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Ethnic & National -> Hispanic & Latino
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Memoirs
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Professionals & Academics -> Journalists

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Desperate to escape South Texas, Stephanie Elizondo Griest dreamed of becoming a foreign correspondent. So she headed to Russia looking for some excitement—commencing what would become a four-year, twelve-nation Communist bloc tour that shattered her preconceived notions of the “Evil Empire.”

In Around the Bloc, Griest relates her experiences as a volunteer at a children’s shelter in Moscow, a propaganda polisher at the office of the Chinese Communist Party’s English-language mouthpiece in Beijing, and a belly dancer among the rumba queens of Havana. She falls in love with an ex-soldier who narrowly avoided radiation cleanup duties at Chernobyl, hangs out with Cuban hip-hop artists, and comes to difficult realizations about the meaning of democracy.

is the absorbing story of a young journalist driven by a desire to witness the effects of Communism. Along the way, she learns the Russian mathematical equation for buying dinner-party vodka (one bottle per guest, plus an extra), stumbles upon Beijing’s underground gay scene, marches with 100,000 mothers demanding Elián González’s return to Cuba, and gains a new appreciation for the Mexican culture she left behind.

Moon Handbooks Havana

Christopher P. Baker

Amazon Price: $17.95 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Avalon Travel Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $3.59

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Travel -> Caribbean -> Cuba -> Havana
Subjects -> Travel -> Caribbean -> Cuba -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Caribbean -> Cuba -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A travel book to discourage travel. 2 out of 5 stars.
6 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Having just returned from Havana I find this book to be the most disingenuous exercise I can remember. While there are certainly facts and history aplenty, the author, who must work for a certain company, makes Havana as repugnant as possible. The blockade, engineered by fanatics who fled Havana for Miami to avoid prosecution or persecution these forty years ago continues without any sane reason. There is a refreshing intellectual life. Civil liberties are no more endangered in Havana than in Alabama or the Bronx. US citizens are now required by the Bush administration to have exit visas from the US issued by the Treasury Department. A nurse told me that Cuba is a third world country. I told her that a Third World country wouldn't have universal health care, no illiteracy, no threat of AIDS, no perinatal mortality, and a system of preventative medicine to be envied. No, I told her, it is I who live in a third world country.
In his litany of deficiencies the author fails to compare anything. Streets are bad. Compared to Baltimore? Slums. Compared to Newark? Poor people. Compared to Mississippi?
You should buy this book (if you are going to Havana) for its wealth of history and useful facts. Do not allow the authors grumpy interpretations influence how you feel about Havana or the Cuban people.

Editorial Review:

From a night at the high-octane Tropicana nightclub, to touring the Havana's monuments to the Revolution, to visiting Hemingway's Havana hangouts, travelers looking for more than the standard itinerary will find many unique options in this updated guide. Author Christopher P. Baker, a well-respected and best-selling authority on travel to Cuba and Latin America, presents everything a traveler needs to know when heading to Havana. This guide is packed with comprehensive information on accommodations, dining, sights, and recreation, covering a wide range of budgets and personal interests. Filled with color photographs, custom maps, witty sidebars, current guidelines for legal travel, and a complete coverage of the city's complex history, the second edition of Moon Handbooks Havana is the most comprehensive resource for travelers to this popular travel destination.

Cuba Diaries: An American Housewife in Havana

Isadora Tattlin

Amazon Price: $11.16 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Broadway Amazon Marketplace: 61 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Women
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Travel
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Central America -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Isadora Tattlin was accustomed to relocating often for her husband’s work. But when he accepted a post in Cuba in the early 1990s, she resolved to keep a detailed diary of her time there, recording her daily experiences as a wife, mother, and foreigner in a land of contraband. The result is a striking, rare glimpse into a tiny country of enormous splendor and squalor. Though the Tattlins are provided with a well-staffed Havana mansion, the store shelves are bare. On the streets, beggars plead for soap, not coins. A vet with few real medical supplies operates on a carved mahogany coffee table in a Louis XIV–style drawing room. The people adore festivity, but Christmas trees are banned. And when Isadora hosts a dinner party whose guest list includes Fidel Castro himself, she observes the ultimate contradiction at the very heart of Cuba. Vividly capturing Cuba’s simultaneously appalling and enchanting essence, Cuba Diaries casts an irresistible spell and lifts the enigma of an island that is trapped in time, but not in spirit.

This Is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives

Ben Corbett

Amazon Price: $12.45 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Basic Books Amazon Marketplace: 66 new & used starting at $0.53

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Economics -> Economic Conditions
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> International -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> International -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A colorful first-person account of living on the fringes of Castro's Cuba, and a splendid evocation of the modern Cuban character.

Beyond the throngs of tourists streaming through Central Havana's broad Prado Avenue, and outside the yoke of Castro's 43-year-old Revolutionary program, there exists a parallel Cuba - a separate evolution of a people struggling to survive. With personal stories that depict a people torn between following the directives of their government and finding a way to better their lot, journalist Ben Corbett gives us the daily life of many considered outlaws by Castro's regime. But are they outlaws or rather ingenious survivors of what many Cubans consider to be a forty-year mistake, a tangle of contradictions that has resulted in a strange hybrid of American-style capitalism and a homegrown black market economy.

At a time when Cuba walks precariously on the ledge between socialism and capitalism, This Is Cuba gets to the heart of this so-called outlaw culture, taking readers into the living rooms, rooftops, parks, and city streets to hear stories of frustration, hope, and survival. Updated with a new preface.