--- product_id: 412070567 title: "Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History" price: "$15.34" currency: USD in_stock: false reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/412070567-cuba-winner-of-the-pulitzer-prize-an-american-history store_origin: US region: United States of America --- # Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History **Price:** $15.34 **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History - **How much does it cost?** $15.34 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.us](https://www.desertcart.us/products/412070567-cuba-winner-of-the-pulitzer-prize-an-american-history) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN HISTORY WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN HISTORY “Full of…lively insights and lucid prose” ( The Wall Street Journal ) an epic, sweeping history of Cuba and its complex ties to the United States—from before the arrival of Columbus to the present day—written by one of the world’s leading historians of Cuba. In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, where a momentous revolution had taken power three years earlier. For more than half a century, the stand-off continued—through the tenure of ten American presidents and the fifty-year rule of Fidel Castro. His death in 2016, and the retirement of his brother and successor Raúl Castro in 2021, have spurred questions about the country’s future. Meanwhile, politics in Washington—Barack Obama’s opening to the island, Donald Trump’s reversal of that policy, and the election of Joe Biden—have made the relationship between the two nations a subject of debate once more. Now, award-winning historian Ada Ferrer delivers an “important” ( The Guardian ) and moving chronicle that demands a new reckoning with both the island’s past and its relationship with the United States. Spanning more than five centuries, Cuba: An American History provides us with a front-row seat as we witness the evolution of the modern nation, with its dramatic record of conquest and colonization, of slavery and freedom, of independence and revolutions made and unmade. Along the way, Ferrer explores the sometimes surprising, often troubled intimacy between the two countries, documenting not only the influence of the United States on Cuba but also the many ways the island has been a recurring presence in US affairs. This is a story that will give Americans unexpected insights into the history of their own nation and, in so doing, help them imagine a new relationship with Cuba; “readers will close [this] fascinating book with a sense of hope” ( The Economist ). Filled with rousing stories and characters, and drawing on more than thirty years of research in Cuba, Spain, and the United States—as well as the author’s own extensive travel to the island over the same period—this is a stunning and monumental account like no other. Review: delightful to read, and an important history for US citizens to know - If you like survey histories and don't know much about Cuba (and you live in the US), I highly recommend this book. Not only does it cover key events and forces inside and outside Cuba that have shaped it, it's very readable and with on-the-ground anecdotes and quotes, brings to life how events probably felt to the people in or around them. BUT - to take it a level beyond "interesting & readable history book," I think this type of book is *important* to read. Personally, Cuban history was not covered in my public k-12 education in the US, except for the Cuban missile crisis. And due to the embargo, my knowledge of the place and its people has been pretty minimal. (And I think that is probably a very common experience.) Which is unfortunate, because Cuba is one of the US's few direct neighbors. Our histories, like with Mexico or Canada, are very intertwined. Havana has been a cultural hub for the entire hemisphere for the last 500 years, due to where it sat on the gulf stream trade routes between Europe and the Americas, with as much of a musical influence as NYC and New Orleans. Our relationship with Cuba even shapes presidential elections, or led to a nuclear missile crisis... To ignore it is to miss an important part of our own history, and how you treat your neighbors can cause tragic boomerang impacts. To that point, Ferrer frames Cuba's history as an "American" one, that it is hemispheric and intertwined with the US. What she brought to light (for me as a US citizen) was how the US has hungrily viewed Cuba as a place where we can extend our influence & economy. In that self-absorbed mindset, we've missed seeing Cuba's distinct history. We elbowed into their revolution from Spain and claimed them as a de facto vassal via the Platt Amendment. Then an era of progressive and revolutionary Cuban activism during the first half of the 20th century gained political "independence" from the US, at first from the Platt Amendment, then also economically with the nationalization of US-owned holdings under Castro. And thus relations deteriorated completely. Obama's effort to reconnect was a step in a new direction, more as partners and neighbors, but that change is doing some zig zags. Ferrer ends on a hopeful note about we all play a part in shaping the future. So as the book wrapped up, I wondered what a voter in the US might do. Even with a rapprochement, the economic imbalance (small poor country adjacent to a juggernaut) yields these high voltage differences that cause shocks when they connect. US investors eagerly bought up land & plantations a century ago when the revolution had suggested opportunity for all Cubans, then there were flash waves of migrants over the last sixty years. In electric systems you need good transformers that step-down the voltage level, and the question is what could those transformers be between the US and Cuba in the coming decades. No matter what, Cuba is our neighbor. And becoming better neighbors requires getting to know them, empathizing with their perspective, understanding how you're viewed and what your impacts are on them. A book like this is an important part of that journey, and it was great to read. Strongly recommend! Review: A superb and timely book on Cuba ! - Ada Ferrer ably and eloquently ties together the histories of Cuba and the United States in this lengthy book which won the Pulitzer Prize. The relationship between the two countries is contentious and complicated and continuing as the news headlines report. Ferrer is fair and informed. The book has some fine photographs and a detailed map in the beginning. ## Images ![Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91XJXFkJCPL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ delightful to read, and an important history for US citizens to know *by L***J on April 3, 2022* If you like survey histories and don't know much about Cuba (and you live in the US), I highly recommend this book. Not only does it cover key events and forces inside and outside Cuba that have shaped it, it's very readable and with on-the-ground anecdotes and quotes, brings to life how events probably felt to the people in or around them. BUT - to take it a level beyond "interesting & readable history book," I think this type of book is *important* to read. Personally, Cuban history was not covered in my public k-12 education in the US, except for the Cuban missile crisis. And due to the embargo, my knowledge of the place and its people has been pretty minimal. (And I think that is probably a very common experience.) Which is unfortunate, because Cuba is one of the US's few direct neighbors. Our histories, like with Mexico or Canada, are very intertwined. Havana has been a cultural hub for the entire hemisphere for the last 500 years, due to where it sat on the gulf stream trade routes between Europe and the Americas, with as much of a musical influence as NYC and New Orleans. Our relationship with Cuba even shapes presidential elections, or led to a nuclear missile crisis... To ignore it is to miss an important part of our own history, and how you treat your neighbors can cause tragic boomerang impacts. To that point, Ferrer frames Cuba's history as an "American" one, that it is hemispheric and intertwined with the US. What she brought to light (for me as a US citizen) was how the US has hungrily viewed Cuba as a place where we can extend our influence & economy. In that self-absorbed mindset, we've missed seeing Cuba's distinct history. We elbowed into their revolution from Spain and claimed them as a de facto vassal via the Platt Amendment. Then an era of progressive and revolutionary Cuban activism during the first half of the 20th century gained political "independence" from the US, at first from the Platt Amendment, then also economically with the nationalization of US-owned holdings under Castro. And thus relations deteriorated completely. Obama's effort to reconnect was a step in a new direction, more as partners and neighbors, but that change is doing some zig zags. Ferrer ends on a hopeful note about we all play a part in shaping the future. So as the book wrapped up, I wondered what a voter in the US might do. Even with a rapprochement, the economic imbalance (small poor country adjacent to a juggernaut) yields these high voltage differences that cause shocks when they connect. US investors eagerly bought up land & plantations a century ago when the revolution had suggested opportunity for all Cubans, then there were flash waves of migrants over the last sixty years. In electric systems you need good transformers that step-down the voltage level, and the question is what could those transformers be between the US and Cuba in the coming decades. No matter what, Cuba is our neighbor. And becoming better neighbors requires getting to know them, empathizing with their perspective, understanding how you're viewed and what your impacts are on them. A book like this is an important part of that journey, and it was great to read. Strongly recommend! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A superb and timely book on Cuba ! *by J***Y on March 23, 2026* Ada Ferrer ably and eloquently ties together the histories of Cuba and the United States in this lengthy book which won the Pulitzer Prize. The relationship between the two countries is contentious and complicated and continuing as the news headlines report. Ferrer is fair and informed. The book has some fine photographs and a detailed map in the beginning. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A compelling but imbalanced history of Cuba *by G***N on September 17, 2022* I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, Ferrer is an excellent and engaging writer, and gives the reader an impressive recounting of 500 years of Cuban history. The book is definitely worth reading. On the other hand, she seems to have tunnel vision about some of the more troubling aspects of the history of the Cuban government, and I wonder whether her political views have caused her to eliminate important facts. Her central thesis is that Cuba has been a target of repression and manipulation by Western governments, principally the United States, for centuries. This, perhaps unfortunately, leads her to describe the exploits of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara as those of swashbuckling saviors out to protect the little people. As a result, she glosses over the deprivation of due process and the many murders that Castro and Guevara engaged in, which the Cuba Project estimates exceeded 10,000. She does not talk about the regime’s use of concentration camps, or extrajudicial imprisonment. Nor does she talk about the racism discovered in Che’s diaries after his death, particularly about people of color and Mexicans. She writes glowingly about Castro instituting agrarian reform (in other words, confiscation of land), better health care, higher wages, and equality between men and women. But she has no good explanation for the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who fled the country (including on improvised rafts), even before the collapse of the Soviet Union. She tries to get around this by contending first, that some of these people supported Fulgencio Batista, and second (not kidding) that refugees from Cuba were principally unhappy because Castro made them repeat “revolutionary” slogans. That struck me as ridiculous. While she complains a lot about the US meddling in Cuban affairs, she is nonjudgmental about the Soviet Union becoming involved in Cuba, even though the heavy-handed Soviet government kept the entirety of Eastern Europe behind walls. One minor point: She manages to describe the Spanish-American War without mentioning the Battle of San Juan Hill. (In fairness, late in the book, she talks about a painting in the White House depicting the battle.) Yes, the battle was a minor skirmish. Yes, the war was pretty much over when it happened. But a future US President was involved in the Battle, which, I think, merits a couple of paragraphs. What was the battle about? How did TR get there? The bottom line is that this is an important, enjoyable, and well-written book. But I would suggest reading it with a bit of skepticism. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.us/products/412070567-cuba-winner-of-the-pulitzer-prize-an-american-history](https://www.desertcart.us/products/412070567-cuba-winner-of-the-pulitzer-prize-an-american-history) --- *Product available on Desertcart United States of America* *Store origin: US* *Last updated: 2026-07-10*