• Choice 1987 Outstanding Academic Book This book examines the early years of the Cuban Republic, launched in 1902 after the war with Spain. Although no longer a colony, the country was still hobbled by continuing dependence on and exploitation from a foreign power. Perez shows how U.S. armed intervention in Cuba in 1898 and subsequent military occupation revitalized elements of the colonial system that would serve imperialist interests during independence. The concessions of the Platt Amendment in 1903 became the principal instrument for U.S. expansion in Cuba. The U.S. then gained control over resources and markets.

This is a study of the Military Government of Cuba from 1898 to 1902. Tracing and explaining the actions of General Leonard Wood's adminis tration during those years reveals how the United States Government re solved the questions of independence, strategic security, and economic inter ests in regard to Cuba. Leonard Wood, Secretary of War Elihu Root, Senator Orville H. Platt, and President William McKinley formulated and carried out policies that had a strong influence on subsequent Cuban-American relations. The broader aspects of this study, civil-military relations and American imperialism, are topics of importance to all citizens today. This is institutional and biographical history, written in the belief that a full ac count of the men, action, and circumstances will add to our understanding of the period when the United States emerged as a world power. I am indebted to Professors Gerald E. Wheeler of San Jose State College and Armin Rappaport of the University of California, San Diego, who di rected my research in the early stages, and to Professor Eric Bellquist of the University of California, Berkeley, for his criticism of the manuscript when it was in dissertation stage. To Professor Raymond J. Sontag I would like to pay special tribute for his guidance and inspiration through the years. The assistance of my mother, Mrs. Sue Hitchman, is deeply appreciated. My thanks go also to the staffs at the Library of the U. S.

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.