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This in-depth, comparative study focuses on the economy, society,
and political culture of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican
Republic in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. Viewing
developments as they relate to the countries' common heritage of
insularity, colonialism, and slavery, Luis Martinez-Fernandez
points out profound, underlying balance-of-power transformations
during a time of ostensibly small change in the region's political
status.
Scholarly and popular attention tends to focus heavily on Cuba's
recent history: its notoriety as the world's largest exporter of
sugar and the Western hemisphere's first socialist nation. Key to
the New World fills the gap in our knowledge of the island before
1700, examining Cuba's formative centuries in depth. Luis
Martinez-Fernandez presents a holistic portrait of the island
nation, interrelating its geography, economy, society, politics,
and culture. He weaves these threads into a narrative that begins
with the first arrival of indigenous people 7,000 years ago. He
explores the conquest and establishment of colonial rule and how
the island's geographic uniqueness made it an ideal launching pad
for Spanish conquests into Central America, Mexico, and Florida.
While considering the role of Cuba and the Caribbean as a theater
for European power struggles, Martinez-Fernandez also focuses
intimately on the people who both influenced and were influenced by
these larger, impersonal forces. In these often-overlooked
centuries, Martinez-Fernandez finds the roots of many of Cuba's
enduring economic, political, social, and cultural complexities.
The result is a sweeping history, a seminal text that makes clear
that to fully grasp revolutionary or contemporary Cuba we must
first understand what came before.
When the World Turned Upside Down is a collection of 65 essays and
opinion columns written between 2019 and 2022, a period of
momentous-some unimaginable-developments in the United States and
across the world. This book stands at the intersection between
opinion journalism and history, its individual components offering
a dialogue between past and present (or present and past). They
are, to use the often-quoted phrase, first drafts of history. Over
the past five years, the world has witnessed several
"unimaginables" about which the author felt compelled to write.
Some of the book's essays identify, analyze and connect parallels
between the U.S. Antebellum and Civil War and the contemporary
increasingly polarized context that reached an explosive peak
during the 2020 elections and the violent attack on the U.S.
Capitol on January 6, 2021. Shrouded in a cloud of unprecedented
global pestilence, the world has witnessed dramatic political and
geopolitical change, mostly for the worse: China, Russia, Hungary,
Belarus, Myanmar, Cuba, even Puerto Rico. Essays in this book
discuss these transformations from a historical perspective as well
as mass popular resistance, in places like Cuba, where they seemed
unimaginable. The book's final section, entitled "Not Boring at
all: Globalization and World Politics," explores the global
ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical rearrangements
related to China's meteoric ascendance as world power, Russia's
militaristic expansionism and related topics.
In Her Majesty's Service is a social history of life in
mid-19th-century Cuba as experienced by George Backhouse (and his
wife, Grace), who served on the British Havana Mixed Commission for
the Suppression of the Slave Trade. Documented with extracts from
the Backhouse's correspondence, diaries and other contemporary
papers, Martinez-Fernandez paints a detailed picture of the Cuban
slave trade, its role in the sugar industry, and the interrelated
contradictions within Cuba's economy, society and politics. The
Backhouse story provides addition al insights into important
aspects of life in the male city of Havana, social antagonisms
between Britons and North Americans, interactions with European
social circles, religious tension, and the reality of tropical
disease. Drama is added to the narrative in the author's
description of the tragic and mysterious murder of George Backhouse
in August 1855, possibly the result of a slave traders' conspiracy.
This volume presents a social history of life in mid-19th-century
Cuba as experienced by George Backhouse (and his wife, Grace), who
served on the British Havana Mixed Commission for the Suppression
of the Slave Trade. Documented with extracts from the Backhouse's
correspondence, diaries and other contemporary papers,
Martinez-Fernandez paints a detailed picture of the Cuban slave
trade, its role in the sugar industry, and the interrelated
contradictions within Cuba's economy, society and politics. The
Backhouse story provides addition al insights into important
aspects of life in the "male" city of Havana, social antagonisms
between Britons and North Americans, interactions with European
social circles, religious tension, and the reality of tropical
disease. Drama is added to the narrative in the author's
description of the tragic and mysterious murder of George Backhouse
in August 1855, possibly the result of a slave traders' conspiracy.
This in-depth, comparative study focuses on the economy, society,
and political culture of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican
Republic in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. Viewing
developments as they relate to the countries' common heritage of
insularity, colonialism, and slavery, Luis Martinez-Fernandez
points out profound, underlying balance-of-power transformations
during a time of ostensibly small change in the region's political
status.
Beginning with Batista's coup in 1952, which catalyzed the rebels,
and concluding with present-day transformations initiated under
Raul Castro, Revolutionary Cuba provides a balanced analytical
synthesis of all the major topics of contemporary Cuban history.
Luis Martinez-Fernandez examines the circumstances that allowed the
revolution to consolidate in the early 1960s, the Soviet influence
throughout the latter part of the Cold War, and the struggle to
survive the catastrophic Special Period of the 1990s after the
collapse of the U.S.S.R. This book offers a comprehensive survey of
the socialist movement that forever changed Cuba and the world.
This is the first book in more than three decades to offer a
complete and chronological history of revolutionary Cuba, including
the years of rebellion that led to the revolution. Beginning with
Batista's coup in 1952, which catalyzed the rebels, and bringing
the reader to the present-day transformations initiated by Raul
Castro, Luis Martinez-Fernandez provides a balanced interpretive
synthesis of the major topics of contemporary Cuban history.
Expertly weaving the myriad historic, social, and political forces
that shaped the island nation during this period,
Martinez-Fernandez examines the circumstances that allowed the
revolution to consolidate in the early 1960s, the Soviet influence
throughout the latter part of the Cold War, and the struggle to
survive the catastrophic Special Period of the 1990s after the
collapse of the U.S.S.R. He tackles the island's chronic dependence
on sugar production, which started with the plantations centuries
ago and continues to shape culture and society. He analyzes the
revolutionary pendulum that continues to swing between idealism and
pragmatism, focusing on its effects on the everyday lives of the
Cuban people, and-bucking established trends in Cuban
scholarship-Martinez-Fernandez systematically integrates the Cuban
diaspora into the larger discourse of the revolution. Concise, well
written, and accessible, this book is an indispensable survey of
the history and themes of the socialist revolution that forever
changed Cuba and the world.
In these often-overlooked centuries, Martinez-Fernandez finds the
roots of many of Cuba's enduring economic, political, social, and
cultural complexities. The result is a sweeping history, a seminal
text that makes clear that to fully grasp revolutionary or
contemporary Cuba we must first understand what came before.
Presents more than 700 articles written by 80 contributors on all
aspects of Cuba's fascinating history, its complex present
situation, and its land, culture, and relationship with the rest of
the world, especially the United States. This wonderfully
comprehensive two-volume encyclopedia features more than 700
entries, covering history; politics; current issues; the Cuban
Diaspora; geography and the environment; and culture, including
religion, the arts, literature, food, holidays, and sports and
games. The Encyclopedia of Cuba presents a balanced and objective
view of Cuba, with 80 distinguished scholars and researchers
reporting the broad sweep of all of Cuba's tempestuous history up
to the present. This important work also tells the stories of Cuban
exiles, both in the United States and in other countries. The
Encyclopedia includes more than 200 illustrations, including
photographs, maps, tables, and graphs, as well as historical and
legal documents. This encyclopedia is arranged in A-Z order within
12 topical chapters, with chapters on national symbols; geography,
urbanization, and the environment; the history of the colonial
period (pre-Columbian to 1901), the Republican period (1902 to
1958), and the revolutionary period (1959 to the present);
contemporary economy and society; literature and social sciences;
performing arts; plastic arts; popular culture and religion;
sports; and the Cuban Diaspora. Appendixes include historical
documents, U.S. laws relating to Cuba; lists of governors and
presidents; important works of Cuban literature; and important
Cuban films. The Encyclopedia will be useful to students from high
school through university, to scholars, and to the general public.
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