[.ca] Travelers' Tales of Old Cuba: From Treasure Island to ... (ISBN 1876175370)

Havana through the eyes of American travelers:
This book would be better called Traveler's Tales of Havana as 13 of the 18 stories are about Cuba's old colonial capital. Of the 18 writers, 16 are Americans or residents of the U.S., which is only logical I suppose given that the countries are such close neighbors. All of the stories date from before the Castro era, beginning in 1678 with an account of the "Invasion of Puerto Principe" and ending with the story of American mafia activities in Havana dating from 1958, the year before the revolution. The tales convey the atmosphere of Cuba before Fidel in a way which is no longer possible, given our knowledge of what was to come, albeit through American eyes. Sugar and Bitter Coffee will please the collector of historical vignettes and those looking for background on Cuba today.