Cuba, What Everyone Needs to Know - 3rd Edition - Julia E. Sweig

Ever since Fidel Castro assumed power in Cuba in 1959, Americans have obsessed over the nation ninety miles south of Florida. American’s fixation has grown over the years, fuelled in part by successive waves of Cuban immigration, Castro’s larger-than-life persona, and most recently, a historic diplomatic and political breakthrough. Since December 17, 2014, and President Barack Obama’s visit in 2016, US-Cuba relations have regularly made headlines, but what do most Americans really know about Cuba?

In this third edition of the widely hailed Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig updates her remarkably accessible portrait of the island nation. This edition contains a new foreword highlighting developments since President Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced their intention to reshape US-Cuba relations. A new final chapter discusses the back story behind the historic announcements, changes in Cuba, and the future of diplomatic and commercial ties. Expansive and authoritative, the book examines Cuba’s history since the Spanish American War before shifting to recent times. Focusing equally on Cuba’s role in world affairs and its own internal transformations, Sweig divides the book chronologically into pre-Fidel era, the period between the 1959 revolution and the Soviet Union’s collapse, the post-Cold War era, and –finally- the era of reforms under Raul Castro and the secret talks that catalysed the recasting of U.S.-Cuban relations.

Informative and lucidly written, this remains the best compact reference on Cuba’s internal politics and its shifting relationship with the U.S. and the global community.

About the Author:
Julia E. Sweig is Senior Research Fellow at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas Austin

"For several years, Julia Sweig, America’s premier expert on Cuba, has been my guide for all matters related to this beautiful, cursed, and consequential island nation. This book – economical, information-packed, and exceedingly well-written – is Sweig’s indispensable contribution to our knowledge of Cuba at a particularly tumultuous time in its history. " Jeffrey Goldberg, National Correspondent, The Atlantic

"Splendid… Sweig displays a talent for succinctness and clarity, as well as a subtle, deep knowledge of Cuban affairs." Foreign Affairs

"Excellent and … evenhanded … [It] packs a phenomenal amount of complex history into clear and simple prose." Los Angeles Times