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The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy | 
 enlarge | Author: Marifeli Perez-stable
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
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Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 292940
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 0195127498
Dewey Decimal Number: 972.91064
EAN: 9780195127492
ASIN: 0195127498
Publication Date: December 3, 1998
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Product Description
This timely and provocative study provides a reexamination of the achievements and failures of the Cuban revolution, placing it firmly within the context of twentieth century Cuban history. Beginning with the inauguration of the republic in 1902 and addressing Castro's triumphant entry into Santiago de Cuba in 1959, The Cuban Revolution highlights the factors which made Cuba susceptible to revolution, including its one-crop (sugar) economy and U.S. interference in Cuban affairs. While identifying nationalism and the struggle for social justice as the legitimate forces behind the revolution, Perez-Stable also provides insight into the problems facing Castro's Cuba. Arguing that the revolution actually ended in 1970, she blames its defeat on the regime's profitable yet doomed dependence on the Soviet Union. She further charges that Cuba's leaders failed to diversify the country's economy, to sustain development, or to create democratic institutions.
Now in its second edition, The Cuban Revolution has been updated to include an entirely new chapter on the changes affecting Cuba's policies and economy since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the failure of communism in general. The second edition also includes a new preface, an up-to-date bibliography, and a thoroughly revised concluding chapter summing up the prospects and possibilities of Cuba's future in the twenty-first century. Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in Latin American history and politics, The Cuban Revolution offers students fresh insights into the successes and failures of the Cuban Revolution.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Grossly inaccurate September 6, 2006
Jose Marti (Miami, FL)
0 out of 8 found this review helpful
Although the book does contain truthful and revelant empirical raw data, the author severely slants the truth (and even sometimes makes half-truths to the point of incorrectly naming Presidents) to the point of satisfying her own argument. Although Castro may very much enjoy her deptiction of the sustained need for socialism, my exiled family as well as my Cuban colleagues find the book disheartening as it weaves a fairytale for Castro as the glorious Savior of the Republic. The fact is that although the Republic did need change, it needed sustained political evolution, not revoltuion as found in the Castro regime. As my family is and comes from a family of Cuban politicians trying to advocate such change, her book is a tragic misinterpretation of those great ideals the infant Republic was trying to accomplish. If you are interested in knowing more about what actually occurred, not some socialist propaganda, watch Andy Garcia's movie The Lost City.
 Falls a bit short. June 4, 2004
Chris Caraballo (Gainesville, FL USA)
5 out of 15 found this review helpful
Rarely does one find a book concerning the Cuban Revolution in which the author at least makes an effort to keep there political views out of the analysis. Marifeli Perez-Stable is no exception, as her book will either be praised by the left, or critizied by the right. In writing such a biased account her credibility is jepordized; not only because anyone with half a brain will realize this, but anyone with limited study in regards to the revolution see's many flaws. Amongst the most prevelant is the complete neglect of Cuba's "Counterculture" and the booming tobacco industry in Cuba throughout the 50's (she harbors on sugar as if every Cuban was either a plantation owner or slave). Hopefully Cuban books in the future will steer clear of political biases and present the facts, and only the facts.
 A Good Book for anyone trying to understand the Revolution May 9, 2000
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
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.
Inadequate and Biased November 23, 1999
17 out of 56 found this review helpful
Despite attempts to keep an open mind, I grew increasingly annoyed at the omissions, exaggerations and half-truths passed off as researched facts in this book. The author calls Cuba - a country under a dictator which holds no elections - a "democracy" and extols the virtues of the revolution without ever presenting the views and the injustices perpetrated against those who opposed the revolution. It is a shame that a work which could have been an objective scholarly book instead is little better than a propaganda pamphlet.
Excellent Anaylsis of the Cuban Revolution June 22, 1998
gbutler@wesleyan.edu (Middletown,Ct)
20 out of 24 found this review helpful
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.
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