Cuban studies is a highly dynamic field shaped by the country's distinctive political and economic circumstances. Mauricio A. Font and Carlos Riobo offer an up-to-date and comprehensive survey offering the latest research available from a broad array of disciplines and perspectives. The Handbook of Contemporary Cuba brings contributions from leading scholars from the United States, Cuba, Europe, and other world regions and introduces the reader to the key literature in the field in relation to rapidly changing events on the island and in global political and economic affairs. It also addresses timely developments in Cuban civil society and human rights. The guide also presents economic models and forecasts as well as analyses of the recent, pivotal Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba. For students, scholars, and experts in government, it is a vital addition to any collection on Latin American studies or global politics.

Cuban studies is a highly dynamic field shaped by the country's distinctive political and economic circumstances. Mauricio A. Font and Carlos Riobo offer an up-to-date and comprehensive survey offering the latest research available from a broad array of disciplines and perspectives. The Handbook of Contemporary Cuba brings contributions from leading scholars from the United States, Cuba, Europe, and other world regions and introduces the reader to the key literature in the field in relation to rapidly changing events on the island and in global political and economic affairs. It also addresses timely developments in Cuban civil society and human rights. The guide also presents economic models and forecasts as well as analyses of the recent, pivotal Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba. For students, scholars, and experts in government, it is a vital addition to any collection on Latin American studies or global politics.

First Published in 2016. If scholarship on Cuban studies after the 1959 revolution focused on the historical and cultural aspects of the construction of a socialist order, the post-1989 crisis of socialism in Central and Eastern Europe raised questions about the island’s state as a socialist model. The scholarly gaze gradually began to focus on possibilities for alternative transformations at various levels of social life rather than on the deepening of traditional twentieth-century state socialism. This volume explores the newly emergent themes and debates about Cuban society and history.

A collection of essays that explore a wide range of topics related to Cuban politics, economics, foreign policy, social transformation, and culture in the post-Soviet era.

Despite its small size, Cuba has often had a large presence on the global stage. Its far-from-homogeneous society, sophisticated music and culture, and volatile relations with the United States-as well as the uncertainty surrounding the inevitable post-Castro era-make it the focal point for the world's attention and a source of fascination for all kinds of readers. Reflects the expertise of an author who is both well-versed in the realities of contemporary Cuba and well-experienced as an educator and writer. Presents the many diverse characteristics of Cuba as a complex but integrated whole. Offers sympathetic but critical-minded portrayals of committed revolutionaries and ardent counterrevolutionaries, without choosing sides between those who left Cuba and those who remained.

In Cuban Revelations, Marc Frank offers a first-hand account of daily life in Cuba at the turn of the twenty-first century, the start of a new and dramatic epoch for islanders and the Cuban diaspora. A U.S.-born journalist who has called Havana home for almost a quarter century, Frank observed in person the best days of the revolution, the fall of the Soviet Bloc, the great depression of the 1990s, the stepping aside of Fidel Castro, and the reforms now being devised by his brother. Examining the effects of U.S. policy toward Cuba, Frank analyzes why Cuba has entered an extraordinary, irreversible period of change and considers what the island's future holds. The enormous social engineering project taking place today under Raúl's leadership is fraught with many dangers, and Cuban Revelations follows the new leader's efforts to overcome bureaucratic resistance and the fears of a populace that stand in his way. In addition, Frank offers a colorful chronicle of his travels across the island's many and varied provinces, sharing candid interviews with people from all walks of life. He takes the reader outside the capital to reveal how ordinary Cubans live and what they are thinking and feeling as fifty-year-old social and economic taboos are broken. He shares his honest and unbiased observations on extraordinary positive developments in social matters, like healthcare and education, as well as on the inefficiencies in the Cuban economy.

This fascinating work provides an enlightening guided tour of the island of Cuba's historical, political, economic, and sociocultural development from the pre-Columbian period to the present. Cuba: A Global Studies Handbook offers a revealing look at a nation that, in its ongoing pursuit of freedom, has been a colonial pawn, a neocolonial paradise for corrupt politicians and dictators, an alluring vacation destination, a defiant Communist holdout and embarrassing thorn in the side of the powerful United States. Drawing heavily on his own research and experiences on the island, the author follows Cuba's political, economic, and sociocultural development from the pre-Columbian period to the present—with an emphasis on the revolutionary period. The book's reference section includes alphabetically organized entries on important people, places, and historical events, as well as shorter sections on Cuban Spanish, national traditions and holidays, cuisines, and important organizations. Also featured is a chart tracing the development of Cuban popular music and a listener's guide to some of the best available recordings.