Travelers Tales Of Old Cuba

Few places are as fascinating as Cuba, a country that has drawn travellers ever since it was discovered' by Columbus in 1492. Magnificently evocative tales of romance, drama and the darker episodes of slavery and tyranny take the reader from the pirate days when Havana sheltered treasure ships to the 'American era', when it became a glittering Mafia paradise. A unique anthology including work by Anais Nin, Langston Hughes and William Cullen Bryant.

From revolution to embargo, from the charms of old Havana to aquamarine seas and powdery beaches, from the hypnotic rhythms of Afro-Caribbean music to resilient, proud locals, "Travelers' Tales Cuba" burns with stories of Cuba's intriguing past and vibrant present.

The Rough Guide to Havana is the essential travel guide with clear maps and coverage of the unforgettable attractions of Cuba's lively capital. From the Museo de la Revolución and other must-visit museums and galleries to splendid architectural gems including the Catedral de San Cristóbal, the Rough Guide steers you to the best restaurants, stylish bars & cafés, and hottest nightlife in Havana across every price range. The guide provides comprehensive coverage of hotels as well as private homestays, the best places to stay for an up-close experience of life in Cuba. You'll find detailed coverage of the outer boroughs La Lisa and Marianao as well as an unprecedented level of detail for the main four city neighbourhoods, Habana Vieja, Centro Habana, Vedado and Miramar. Rely on insider tips on everything from where to go for local music and jazz, shop for Cuban film posters, guayabera shirts and rum, and witness the time, skill and effort involved in producing Cuban cigars. Explore all corners of the city with authoritative background on Cuban history and a succinct political analysis of the Cuban Revolution, relying on the clearest maps of any guide and practical language tips. Make the most of your holiday with The Rough Guide to Havana

This in-depth examination of one of the most controversial episodes in U.S.-Cuba relations sheds new light on the program that airlifted 14,000 unaccompanied children to the United States in the wake of the Cuban Revolution. Operation Pedro Pan is often remembered within the U.S. as an urgent “rescue” mission, but Deborah Shnookal points out that a multitude of complex factors drove the exodus, including Cold War propaganda and the Catholic Church’s opposition to the island’s new government. Shnookal illustrates how and why Cold War scare tactics were so effective in setting the airlift in motion, focusing on their context: the rapid and profound social changes unleashed by the 1959 Revolution, including the mobilization of 100,000 Cuban teenagers in the 1961 national literacy campaign. Other reforms made by the revolutionary government affected women, education, religious schools, and relations within the family and between the races. Shnookal exposes how, in its effort to undermine support for the revolution, the U.S. government manipulated the aspirations and insecurities of more affluent Cubans. She traces the parallel stories of the young “Pedro Pans” separated from their families—in some cases indefinitely—in what is often regarded in Cuba as a mass “kidnapping” and the children who stayed and joined the literacy brigades. These divergent journeys reveal many underlying issues in the historically fraught relationship between the U.S. and Cuba and much about the profound social revolution that took place on the island after 1959. Publication of the paperback edition made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This ever more accessible island will soon be the hottest Caribbean destination for North American travelers, according to the authors, who cover all sites and events to suit all budgets. of color photos. 43 maps.

Cuban Studies has been published annually by the University of Pittsburgh Press since 1985. Founded in 1970, it is the preeminent journal for scholarly work on Cuba. Each volume includes articles in both English and Spanish, a large book review section, and an exhaustive compilation of recent works in the field.

A comprehensive history of crime and corruption in Cuba, The Cuban Connection challenges the common view that widespread poverty and geographic proximity to the United States were the prime reasons for soaring rates of drug trafficking, smuggling, gambling, and prostitution in the tumultuous decades preceding the Cuban revolution. Eduardo Saenz Rovner argues that Cuba's historically well-established integration into international migration, commerce, and transportation networks combined with political instability and rampant official corruption to help lay the foundation for the development of organized crime structures powerful enough to affect Cuba's domestic and foreign politics and its very identity as a nation. Saenz traces the routes taken around the world by traffickers and smugglers. After Cuba, the most important player in this story is the United States. The involvement of gangsters and corrupt U.S. officials and businessmen enabled prohibited substances to reach a strong market in the United States, from rum running during Prohibition to increased demand for narcotics during the Cold War. Originally published in Colombia in 2005, this first English-language edition has been revised and updated by the author.

Twenty-first-century Cuba is a cultural stew. Tommy Hilfiger and socialism. Nike products and poverty in Africa. The New York Yankees and the meaning of "blackness." The quest for American consumer goods and the struggle in Africa for political and cultural independence inform the daily life of Cubans at every cultural level, as anthropologist Paul Ryer argues in Beyond Cuban Waters. Focusing on the everyday world of ordinary Cubans, this book examines Cuban understandings of the world and of Cuba's place in it, especially as illuminated by two contrasting notions: "La Yuma," a distinctly Cuban concept of the American experience, and "África," the ideological understanding of that continent's experience. Ryer takes us into the homes of Cuban families, out to the streets and nightlife of bustling cities, and on boat journeys that reach beyond the typical destinations, all to better understand the nature of the cultural life of a nation. This pursuit of Western status symbols represents a uniquely Cuban experience, set apart from other cultures pursuing the same things. In the Cuban case, this represents neither an acceptance nor rejection of the American cultural influence, but rather a co-opting or "Yumanizing" of these influences.