From the moment Columbus gazed out from his Santa Maria and hailed ‘the most beautiful land human eyes have seen’, Cuba has been a magnet for fantasies – and for historic drama. In recent years, Fidel Castro’s longtime communist feif has been roiled by new momentous shifts – Castro’s death; détente with the United States; the ascent of a new leader in Havana. Now comes an essential and timely portrait of Cuba from one of the island’s leading chroniclers. Cuba Then, Cuba Now offers selected...
Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards Clustered together in azure-blue waters are a collection of little islands whose culture, history and people have touched every corner of the world. From the moment Columbus gazed out at what he mistook for India, and wrote in his journal of 'the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen,' the Caribbean has been the subject of fantasies, myths and daydreams. It was claimed, and its societies were built to enrich old...