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Cuba
Cuba: A History | Hugh Thomas
6 posts | 3 to read
From award-winning historian Hugh Thomas, Cuba: A History is the essential work for understanding one of the most fascinating and controversial countries in the world. Hugh Thomas's acclaimed book explores the whole sweep of Cuban history from the British capture of Havana in 1762 through the years of Spanish and United States domination, down to the twentieth century and the extraordinary revolution of Fidel Castro. Throughout this period of over two hundred years, Hugh Thomas analyses the political, economic and social events that have shaped Cuban history with extraordinary insight and panache, covering subjects ranging from sugar, tobacco and education to slavery, war and occupation. Encyclopaedic in range and breathtaking in execution, Cuba is surely one of the seminal works of world history. 'An astonishing feat ... the author does more to explain the phenomenon of Fidel's rise to power than anybody else has done so far' - Spectator 'Brilliant' - The New York Times 'Immensely readable. Thomas's notion of history's scope is generous, for he has not limited himself to telling old political and military events; he describes Cuban culture at all stages ... not merely accessible but absorbing. His language is witty but never mocking, crisp but never harsh' - New Yorker 'Thomas seems to have talked to everybody not dead or in jail, and read everything. He is scrupulously fair' - Time Hugh Thomas is the author of, among other books, The Spanish Civil War (1962), which won the Somerset Maugham Award, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (1971), An Unfinished History of the World (1979), and the first two volumes of his Spanish Empire trilogy, Rivers of Gold (2003) and The Golden Age (2010).
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Catsandbooks
Cuba: A History | Hugh Thomas
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Join #FoodandLit in April as we visit Cuba 🇨🇺

ravenlee May I suggest this book? It takes place in Florida, but has some great context about Cubano food and culture. 3y
Texreader @ravenlee Awesome!! Thanks for the recommendation! I‘ll check it out 3y
Megabooks I enjoyed this last year 3y
Catsandbooks @ravenlee @Megabooks thanks for the recommendations 3y
43 likes4 comments
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JenP
Cuba: A History | Hugh Thomas
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September is Cuba! Pack your bags and pick a book to transport you to Cuba! Throughout the month post your books, quotes, art and/or travel photos, food, or any other Cuban relevant posts. Tag me and #ReadAroundTheWorld

Make your recommendations and tell us what you plan to read in the comments. My recommendations are below!

JenP So many read options! I recommend for those who like playful literary fiction. Lots of wordplay, puns, satire, etc. best in Spanish if you can read Spanish but the English translation is good too. 7y
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batsy @JenP Thank you for the links! I was going to try Three Trapped Tigers but was a wee bit intimidated about the "Cuban Ulysses" ? So I thought of going with these 500 pages instead ? 7y
JenP @batsy yeah, I think it's like Ulysses in scope (the way it captures the essence of a place and its people) but much more readable. I read Ulysses and while I appreciated it, I did NOT enjoy reading most of it 😂 (edited) 7y
vivastory @batsy Three Trapped Tigers is worth reading eventually. I haven't read Ulysses yet, but TTT is very playful. 7y
vivastory @JenP I'm looking forward to your posts. There were a few years when I read a ton of Latin American authors, several of my favorites we're Cuban. Books by G.C. Infante, Reinaldo Arenas, Virgilio Pinera & Jose Lezama Lima have stayed with me ever since. 7y
JenP @vivastory thank you and thanks for the helpful author recommendations. I love Latin American literature so I'm very excited about this month! 7y
Simona I will read Havana Noir, edited by Achy Obejas, or her collection of short stories 7y
rockpools @Simona Snap! I picked up her short-story collection. But I'm sure I'll want to read everyone else's books as well 😀! 7y
batsy @vivastory That's good to know, I am very intrigued and hope to get to it at some point. Ulysses is also very playful in parts, but as @JenP said it's not totally readable and some parts are designed to annoy or bore the reader! 7y
Simona @RachelO I'm always sure about my pick ... until I see other people's choices ☺️ 7y
Currey I have Alejandro Carpentier's Explosion in a Cathedral and will start there but hope to read one other in translation @jenp 7y
JenP @Currey I'm debating that one too. 7y
mhillis This one is on kindle daily deals 7y
Hooked_on_books I'm really glad you created this challenge--it's bringing me to interesting books I would not have found otherwise! (Even though I keep finishing them late.) For Cuba, I'll be reading 7y
JenP @Hooked_on_books I'm really glad to hear that! I've also discovered some great ones with help from all of you 7y
Natasha.C.Barnes I just finished The Mortifications! SO GOOD. 7y
Natasha.C.Barnes Now that I've unwittingly joined this challenge for September I'll have to continue in the future! 😀 7y
JenP @Natasha.C.Barnes excellent! 😂it's lots of fun! 7y
31 likes22 comments
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Rachel.Rencher
Cuba: A History | Hugh Thomas

Hey littens,

I'm doing a small research project on Cuba. Does anyone have any recommendations for books either fiction or non fiction?

Thank you! 🤓

Purpleness I read That Infernal Little Cuban Republic probably almost a decade ago. It covered Cuban-American relations up to I think the 90s? 7y
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alanacristin This graphic novel memoir is an interesting look at the revolution 7y
alanacristin ^And disturbing, i should add 7y
Lucas.Rencher I can't wait to lean more about Cuba 😙 7y
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Debiw781
Cuba: A History | Hugh Thomas
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Well my first thought for#drive was Jason Statham but I already posted the screenshot where he was mentioned in a book. Then it was Fast & Furious, and the latest one was partially filmed in Cuba so here is a pic from Cuba.
#90sinjuly
@Robothugs
@Cinfhen

Cinfhen Great photo 😍looks like a movie set!!!! And I like your thought process 😌 7y
Debiw781 @Cinfhen My thought process confuses my coworkers sometimes 😂😂And yes, a lot of Cuba seemed almost unreal 7y
38 likes2 comments
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Debiw781
Cuba: A History | Hugh Thomas
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Debiw781
Cuba: A History | Hugh Thomas
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Back home from #cruising. I had a great time visiting Cuba and made a lot of progress with #gonewiththeclown #lengthylit

@Tiffy_Reads