The History of Havana

DICK CLUSTER landed in Havana's José Martí airport for the first time in 1969 and has been fascinated by the city ever since, exploring it by foot, bicycle, city bus, tour bus, car, ferryboat, and other means. An Oakland resident, he is a translator of Latin American literature, most recently editing and translating the collection Kill the Ámpaya: The Best Latin American Baseball Fiction and Mylene Fernández Pintado's novel of contemporary Havana, A Corner of the World. Previous nonfiction books include They Should Have That Cup of Coffee, about U.S. radical movements of the '60s and '70s, and Shrinking Dollars, Vanishing Jobs, about the U.S. economy. RAFAEL HERNÁNDEZ is the editor of Temas, a Cuban quarterly in the field of history, culture, economics, and politics. Hernández graduated from the University of Havana with a degree in French literature, and from the Colegio de México in political science. He has oriented, guided, and taught many American visitors to Cuba, whether students, academics, or travelers, and been visiting professor and researcher at Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, the Woodrow Wilson Center, Tulane, and the University of Puerto Rico, and lectured at numerous other schools and academic conferences. His publications include three books of poetry and ten books of essays. His essay collection Looking at Cuba won the Cuban Critics Award in 2000, and was published by the University Press of Florida in 2003.

Introduction: Un tipo muy popular


1 Key to the Indies


2 The Hour of the Mameys


3 Paris of The Antilles


4 Cecilia, Cabildos, and Contradance


5 Stirrings of Nationhood


6 Revolutions and Retributions: From the Teatro Villanueva to the Maine


7 Many Happy Returns? U.S. Occupation and Its Aftermath


8 Symbol of an Era: Alberto Yarini y Ponce de León


9 Catch a Ford on the Malecón: Republican Havana's Growth and Decay


10 The Battle of Havana, 1933–35


11 Radio Days


12 City Lights: The Fabulous Fifties


13 Havana in Revolution


14 Revolution with Pachanga: Havana Transfigured


15 Russian Meat, Miami Butterflies, and Other Unexpected Adventures


16 The Blackout: Havana in the "Special Period" and Beyond


Epilogue: 2006-2017