Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize)

An American History

De: Ada Ferrer

Narrado por: Alma Cuervo, Ada Ferrer - prologue

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN HISTORY

WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN HISTORY

“Full of…lively insights and lucid prose” (The Wall Street Journal) an epic, sweeping history of Cuba and its complex ties to the United States—from before the arrival of Columbus to the present day—written by one of the world’s leading historians of Cuba.

In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, where a momentous revolution had taken power three years earlier. For more than half a century, the stand-off continued—through the tenure of ten American presidents and the fifty-year rule of Fidel Castro. His death in 2016, and the retirement of his brother and successor Raúl Castro in 2021, have spurred questions about the country’s future. Meanwhile, politics in Washington—Barack Obama’s opening to the island, Donald Trump’s reversal of that policy, and the election of Joe Biden—have made the relationship between the two nations a subject of debate once more.

Now, award-winning historian Ada Ferrer delivers an “important” (The Guardian) and moving chronicle that demands a new reckoning with both the island’s past and its relationship with the United States. Spanning more than five centuries, Cuba: An American History provides us with a front-row seat as we witness the evolution of the modern nation, with its dramatic record of conquest and colonization, of slavery and freedom, of independence and revolutions made and unmade.

Along the way, Ferrer explores the sometimes surprising, often troubled intimacy between the two countries, documenting not only the influence of the United States on Cuba but also the many ways the island has been a recurring presence in US affairs. This is a story that will give Americans unexpected insights into the history of their own nation and, in so doing, help them imagine a new relationship with Cuba; “readers will close [this] fascinating book with a sense of hope” (The Economist).

Filled with rousing stories and characters, and drawing on more than thirty years of research in Cuba, Spain, and the United States—as well as the author’s own extensive travel to the island over the same period—this is a stunning and monumental account like no other.

©2021 Ada Ferrer. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"[Alma Cuervo]'s a highly empathetic interpreter of Ferrer's narrative. The story is fascinating, enlightening, and often deeply moving as Cuervo recounts Cuba's sorry history of racial division, enslavement, and exploitation - most vividly, the crushing labor of its sugar plantations." (AudioFile Magazine)

Gripping History

As I was listening to this book, it won the Pulitzer Prize, and I could understand why. It is the best kind of history book, that explains rather than preaches, that connects the reader to the people of Cuba and not just wars and revolutions. And for a reader from the United States, it connects deeply to my own country’s history.

Yes, it is a long book. One could easily take advantage of the different sections to spread it out over months. Personally, I found it so gripping that I finished it in about a week.

A beautiful and important book

This amazing historical account of 500 years of history is beautifully read It contains not only graphic accounts of the entwined histories of Cuba and the United States but also deeply moving and thought provoking reflections on art, political science, sociology, philosophy and what it means to be human.

Great narrative!

Great narrative. Being a Cuban American arrived to USA just 5 years ago and having spent most of my life under the oppressive communist regime of Castro, this book leaves me a taste of benevolence from the author to Castro cruelty in her great kind of romantic narrative. Emphasizing on cruelty of former dictator Batista and his “Guardia Rural” and taking all the time and effort to explain the reasoning of Castro’s atrocities and nonsense. Also I consider, and of course all of this is just my personal opinion, that excluding Che Guevara letter to his own father in which he confess how good he felt killing Cubans by his own hands, and Che Guevara speech before UN assembly where he said Cuban revolutionaries Murdered, murder and will continue tu murder counterrevolutionaries, is a huge omission. Intentional? Who knows. Also repression to unarmed civilians during F. Castro ruling should be more documented and emphasized in honor to the truth. And Oswaldo Paya death in very suspicious circumstances is not even in the book. Just to name some important omissions if we are going to talk about Cuba.

An excellent history on a subject I knew little.

The narrative is very accessible and told/read in a very engaging manner. Cuba is a truly amazing and complex place and having access to this book during my travels there made my trip considerably more monumental. A truly magnificent work!

Interesting listening

I loved the book very much. Written by an Cuban-American, I trust her detailed description of the history of her birth country, although she was just around one year old when she left Cuba. She must have read and researched a lot about the liberation of Cuba from Spanish rule and the subsequent struggle not to become a country dominated by her northern neighbor, the United States. While she hates Castro and blames his rule for much of the many failures of the regime, she still hopes that it will somehow prosper in the future, as I do so as well.

I simply had no idea

What an amazing journey. I would feel it was possibly an Americanized history except that it was written by the daughter of someone who lived it.

Great history

Amazingly researched. Could be fiction as many events are really out of this world. Really enjoyed the whole story.

A very historial account of Cuba and Cubans .

It’s a long book but so are most history books. This one covers several hundred years. My grand parents on my mothers side immigrated to Cuba in 1930. I was born in 1960 in Havana. I left Cuba in 1970. The first part of the book covers a lot of history that I was not familiar with but I found it to be extremely interesting. I learned a lot about the years after the revolution that I was not aware of. I found the book easy to read but I also got the acúdanle version so I could listen to it as I was doing other things. The narrator was very easy ro listen to. She made the history sound interesting. It’s a sad story that here we are in 2023 and our families left behind are still suffering from this communist regime. I pray every day for freedom for my relatives.

Great account of the history of Cuba

As tough as it is to condense a country’s history into a compelling story, this books does a great job.

Amazing

Very well done, informative, and well-read. I couldn’t recommend more for those wanting to learn about Cuban history.