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This city is now converted into a total ruin. This is a wonderful book that describes Havana in the same way that my parents have always told me they remember. I lived in Cuba until the age of thirteen and in many parts of Havana i could see remains of what once was a grandiose city. With regards to the writer "formoso" , he believes all the comunist propaganda written by the so called revolution. I imagine he believes that today's cuba is a paradise where everybody lives better.how come all cubans want to leave that paradise.
"Havana Before Castro" is the typical un-balanced poorly written account of Cuba before Castro. This book should be retitled to "Cuba Before Morals". It was, a land of plenty poverty and plenty crime.
The real Cuba before Castro, was an island built by the rich and corrupt for the enjoyment of the rich and corrupt. A land where people lived as peasants in shacks; not because of an embargo but because of government sponsored poverty. Without doubt, this book is a hit with the Miami Cuban Mafia.
A land where education, health care, clothing, and even your next meal was out of reach. Drugs, alcohol, and even child prostitution/trafficking prospered while the average citizen (the you's and me's of society) lived in poverty under a system that kept them as ignorant cogs in the wheel of greed. Cubans have a misplaced tendency to think that Cuba before Castro was a wonderland; a land of plenty.
Need we all remember that the Cuban Revolution was supported by the people because the people were fed up by those who came before Castro. It is a wonderful collection of pictures and nothing more.
With a profusion of exquisite illustrations, "Havana Before Castro" is also a suprisingly well-balanced, perceptively written historical work. While one good picture is certainly worth a thousand words,this book goes beyond the typical illustrated book genre to recapture also in text a Havana which vividly lives in the memory of those of us lucky enough to have experienced it first hand and, now, in the memory of those who read this book.
Very informative with wonderful before and after photos, I am Cuban and remember some of the places in the photos. Would highly recommend it to my friends.
great, easy read yet interesting history of Havana. Wonderful photos and fun highlights of the who's who of that era. The author did a good job of combining the two to make for a brilliant fun read
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