The Cuba Reader: The Making of a Revolutionary Society

The cry "No more Cubas" has reflexively guided U.S. policy for nearly three decades, yet Cuba's significant improvements in education, health care, housing, and access to food are widely admired throughout the Third World.

Myths and misconceptions about the country abound, but The Cuba Reader at last provides a balanced, comprehensive, and readable description of Cuba as it is today. It places the 1959 revolution in the context of Cuba's hundred years of social change, and explores the pivotal roles that both the United States and the Soviet Union have played in Cuba's politics and its economy, as well as the important issues of human rights and Cuba's relations with the Third World. Perhaps most important, it details the impact of revolutionary ideals on every aspect of Cuban life, from its foreign policy to its daily life and culture.

The United States and Cuba have dramatically increased their diplomatic contact recently, and the complex relationship between the countries seems to be improving. As such new developments occur, The Cuba Reader offers the background necessary to appreciate the changing circumstances.

Including articles from a wide range of viewpoints inside and outside of Cuba, many of which were written expressly for this volume, The Cuba Reader offers the most complete picture available of this surprising and fascinating country.