I'm sharing Peggy's list (hope she doesn't mind). So glad to have it so I'll be better prepared this time!
Travel Guides:
There are many guidebooks these days but one that I like is CUBA HANDBOOK by
Christopher Baker. He regularly runs trips to Cuba for National Geographic and I see him “on the ground” frequently, so you know that his information is current.
Books - Historical, Political and Cultural Background:
THE CUBA WARS by Daniel Erickson US policy towards Cuba
CUBA-WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW (2nd Edition) by Julia Sweig US policy towards Cuba
HAVANA NOCTURNE by T.J.English History of the Mafia era in Cuba leading up to the Revolution
THE HISTORY OF HAVANA by Dick Cluster and Rafael Hernandez Written by an American and a Cuban with their blended perspectives. Hernandez is often a lecturer for our groups in Havana.
THE CUBA READER: History, Culture, Politics edited by Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr and Pamela Maria Smorkaloff
CUBA CONFIDENTIAL by Ann Louise Burdach On the policies of the exile community in Miami
JOSE MARTI: SELECTED WRITINGS edited by Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, Penguin Classics
CUBA, THE PURSUIT OF FREEDOM by Hugh Thomas
Novels:
OUR MAN IN HAVANA by Graham Greene
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway
OUR HOUSE IN THE LAST WORLD by Oscar Hijuelos
Articles:
Written at the beginning of the Obama administration in 2009, this piece by Julia Sweig is a concise and insightful read on Cuba/US relations (or the lack thereof).
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfeatures/show/id/Cover-Memo-to-President-Obama_9133
JOSE FUSTER, whom we will meet and work with while in Cuba.
http://www.havana-cultura.com/en/int/visual-art/jose-fuster/cuban-artist-painter-and-sculpture
HEMINGWAY IN CUBA, from the Wall Street Journal, Dec. 2013
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304439804579206022406525070
Film – most available on Netflix or Amazon:
UNFINISHED SPACES - PBS 2012 Award winning documentary on the building of Cuba’s most prestigious art school, Instituto Superior de Arte. Built on the grounds of the old Havana Country Club,
beginning in 1964, the school’s history is an insightful look at many aspects of Cuban society and its more recent history.
HELLO HEMINGWAY by Fernando Perez, 1990 Cuba in the 50’s and a young girl’s coming of age in a time of social upheaval.
EL OJO DEL CANARIO by Fernando Perez, 2010 Story of Cuba’s national hero, Jose Marti.
VIVA CUBA by Juan Carlos Cremata, 2004 Two friends’ journey from Havana to Maisi in Eastern Cuba.
CHICO Y RITA by Fernando Trueba, 2010 Academy Award nominated feature length animated film
CONDUCTA by Ernesto Daranas, 2014 Recent winner, Best Film at the Havana Film Festival of New York, contemporary look at life in Havana from the perspective of an 11 year old boy, struggling to make ends meet.
Travel Guides:
There are many guidebooks these days but one that I like is CUBA HANDBOOK by
Christopher Baker. He regularly runs trips to Cuba for National Geographic and I see him “on the ground” frequently, so you know that his information is current.
Books - Historical, Political and Cultural Background:
THE CUBA WARS by Daniel Erickson US policy towards Cuba
CUBA-WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW (2nd Edition) by Julia Sweig US policy towards Cuba
HAVANA NOCTURNE by T.J.English History of the Mafia era in Cuba leading up to the Revolution
THE HISTORY OF HAVANA by Dick Cluster and Rafael Hernandez Written by an American and a Cuban with their blended perspectives. Hernandez is often a lecturer for our groups in Havana.
THE CUBA READER: History, Culture, Politics edited by Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr and Pamela Maria Smorkaloff
CUBA CONFIDENTIAL by Ann Louise Burdach On the policies of the exile community in Miami
JOSE MARTI: SELECTED WRITINGS edited by Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, Penguin Classics
CUBA, THE PURSUIT OF FREEDOM by Hugh Thomas
Novels:
OUR MAN IN HAVANA by Graham Greene
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway
OUR HOUSE IN THE LAST WORLD by Oscar Hijuelos
Articles:
Written at the beginning of the Obama administration in 2009, this piece by Julia Sweig is a concise and insightful read on Cuba/US relations (or the lack thereof).
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfeatures/show/id/Cover-Memo-to-President-Obama_9133
JOSE FUSTER, whom we will meet and work with while in Cuba.
http://www.havana-cultura.com/en/int/visual-art/jose-fuster/cuban-artist-painter-and-sculpture
HEMINGWAY IN CUBA, from the Wall Street Journal, Dec. 2013
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304439804579206022406525070
Film – most available on Netflix or Amazon:
UNFINISHED SPACES - PBS 2012 Award winning documentary on the building of Cuba’s most prestigious art school, Instituto Superior de Arte. Built on the grounds of the old Havana Country Club,
beginning in 1964, the school’s history is an insightful look at many aspects of Cuban society and its more recent history.
HELLO HEMINGWAY by Fernando Perez, 1990 Cuba in the 50’s and a young girl’s coming of age in a time of social upheaval.
EL OJO DEL CANARIO by Fernando Perez, 2010 Story of Cuba’s national hero, Jose Marti.
VIVA CUBA by Juan Carlos Cremata, 2004 Two friends’ journey from Havana to Maisi in Eastern Cuba.
CHICO Y RITA by Fernando Trueba, 2010 Academy Award nominated feature length animated film
CONDUCTA by Ernesto Daranas, 2014 Recent winner, Best Film at the Havana Film Festival of New York, contemporary look at life in Havana from the perspective of an 11 year old boy, struggling to make ends meet.