The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy, 2nd Edition

Pérez Stable has done a masterful job. My students like the book for its fairness and balance.Her historical chapters present a more nunaced view of prerevolutionary Cuba than is usually the case. I recommend it for class adoption.

This book provides an excellent background to social dynamics in Cuba before, during and after the Cuban Revolution, and does a good job analyzing its causes and consequences. It is indeed a must for anyone trying to understand the Revolution. The right wing exile community in Florida will not like this book because it is one of the few that consciously tries to be objective, but that should not dissuade other readers from purchasing this book. It is a bit too crammed with charts and statistics in places, which makes it cumbersome, but those sections are skimmable. I will certainly use it in my undergraduate classes.

Perez-Stable traces magnificantly the origins and failures of the Cuban revolution to underlying currents in Cuban history. This multifaceted work places an emphasis on the impact of a monocultural sugar economy, and the Imperialist legacy of the United States in the formation of a revolutionary atmosphere in Cuba. She incorporates numerous statistics and raw data to justify her claims. Though impeccably researched, the "Cuban Revolution" is at times difficult to read. The sheer thoroughness of the work at certain points overwhelms the reader, and clouds the lucidity of the work. Nevertheless, the excellent research outshines its periodic unintelligibility, especially in its institutional analysis of Castro's regime's. The book offers a new insight into the functions and paralysis of Cuban political institutions under Castro. In addition, the "Cuban Revolution" makes an important contribution to understanding of womens' role in Castro's consolidation of power. This is a must read for any serious student of Cuban History or Latin American Studies.