The wife of South Carolina secessionist governor Francis W. Pickens and known as the “Queen of the Confederacy,” Lucy Holcombe Pickens (1832–1899) was during her lifetime one of the most famous women in the South. Rumor was that in her youth she published a novel under a pseudonym. Recently discovered as The Free Flag of Cuba; or, The Martyrdom of Lopez: A Tale of the Liberating Expedition of 1851, her 1854 book is a romanticized account of the 1851 filibustering expedition to Cuba by Narciso López. With this new edition, Orville Vernon Burton and Georganne B. Burton resurrect Holcombe’s lost work and prove it to be a window on many pressing nineteenth-century issues. A not-so-subtle plea for U.S. support for Cuban independence from Spain, Holcombe’s novel vindicates López and his men—who were officially regarded as mercenaries—and declares them to be martyred heroes. The tale clearly reflects the values southern aristocratic women expected in men, even if preserving those values meant death and defeat—a harbinger of ardent support for the Confederacy by women like Lucy. With an illuminating introduction detailing the life of Lucy Petway Holcombe Pickens and the historical context of her novel, this new edition of The Free Flag of Cuba is a welcome glimpse into the mind and value system of the southern belle who would become a southern icon.

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.

As a whole, Cuban history, culture, and art are often misconstrued with a heritage specific to Havana. In Cuba's Wild East, Peter Hulme attempts to right this wrong, focusing on the eastern region of the island and the specific fictions, poetries, locations, and histories that constitute a specific eastern culture. Examining a region with a rich insurgent and revolutionary history, Peter Hulme examines the stories of rebellion, heroism, and sacrifice that are so intimately tied to the places and sites that have now become part of a national pantheon, at the same time showing the international influence of US journalists and novelists whose presence in Cuban literature alongside native Cuban writers further defines the region as a place of encounter.

With a focus on nineteenth century Cuba, this volume examines understudied forms of mobility and networks that emerged during Second Slavery. After being forcibly taken across the Atlantic, enslaved Africans were moved within Cuba, and sometimes sold to owners in other Caribbean islands or the U.S. South. The chapters included in this book, written by historians and literary critics, pay special attention to debates between abolitionists and proslavery ideologues, the ways in which people and ideas moved from the countryside to the city, from one Caribbean Island to the next, and from the United States or the coasts of West Africa to the sugarcane fields. They examine how enslaved persons ran away or were captured and coerced to relocate; how they mobilized information and ideas to ameliorate their situation; and how they were used to advance other people’s interests. Movement, these chapters show, was regularly deployed to reinforce enslavement and the suppression of rights, while at times helping people in their struggle for freedom. This book will be a great resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Latin American Literature, Global Slavery and Postcolonial Studies. The chapters were originally published in the journal Atlantic Studies: Global Currents.