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Cuba: A Short History
Cuba: A Short History brings together four chapters from Volumes 3, 5, and 7 of The Cambridge History of Latin America to provide for scholars, students and general readers a concise history of this important island nation. Contributors, top scholars in the field, trace the political, economic, and social development of Cuba from the middle of the eighteenth century to the present day. The concluding chapter, updated for this volume, considers the dilemmas and challenges that Castro's Cuba faces in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. Each chapter is accompanied by a bibliographical essay that many readers will find useful.
- GenresHistory
184 pages, Paperback
First published March 26, 1993
2 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Leslie Bethell
83 books15 followersLeslie Bethell is Emeritus Professor of Latin American History and Honorary Research Fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London; Emeritus Fellow of St Antony’s College, Oxford; Senior Research Associate, Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação de História Contemporânea do Brasil, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Rio de Janeiro; and Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C.
He is a former Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London (1987-92), and founding Director of the Centre for Brazilian Studies, University of Oxford (1997-2007).
He has been Visiting Professor at a number of Brazilian and US universities and research institutions, including the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (1979), the University of California, San Diego (1986), the University of Chicago (1992-3), and the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington D.C: Fellow (1987), Guest Scholar (1996-7), Public Policy Scholar (2008-9, 2010 and 2011).
Professor Bethell's research has been principally in the field of nineteenth and twentieth-century Latin American – and especially Brazilian – political, social and cultural history. His publications include The abolition of the Brazilian slave trade (Cambridge, 1970; Port. trans. 1976; 2nd Port. trans., 2002), (editor, with Ian Roxborough) Latin America between the Second World War and the Cold War (Cambridge, 1992; Port. trans. 1996), The Paraguayan War (1864-1870) (London, 1996), (editor) Brasil: fardo do passado, promessa do futuro. Dez ensaios sobre politica e sociedade brasileira (Rio de Janeiro, 2002), Brazil by British and Irish authors (Oxford, 2003), (editor, with José Murilo de Carvalho) Joaquim Nabuco e os abolicionistas britânicos (Rio de Janeiro, 2008; Eng. trans., 2009), and Charles Landseer- Desenhos e Aquarelas de Portugal e do Brasil, 1825-1826 (Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Moreira Salles, 2010).
He is Editor of the Cambridge History of Latin America (12 volumes, Cambridge University Press, 1984-2008), which is also being published in Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese, and the author or co-author of chapters on the Independence of Brazil and Brazil 1822-1850 in CHLA vol. III Latin America, from Independence to c. 1870 and four chapters on the politics of Brazil 1930-2002 in CHLA vol. IX Brazil since 1930 (2008).
Professor Bethell serves on the International Advisory Councils of a number of Brazilian institutions and on the Editorial Boards of several Brazilian journals.
Professor Bethell has been awarded the Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul by the Brazilian government (Comendador in 1994, Grande Oficial in 1998). In 2004 he was elected a member of the Academia Brasileira de Ciências. In 2010 he was elected a sócio correspondente (one of twenty foreign associate members) of the Academia Brasileira de Letras. He also in 2010 received the Ordem Nacional do Merito Cientifico (Comendador).
He currently lives in Rio de Janeiro.He is the sole editor of the eleven volume Cambridge History of Latin America, a massive attempt at compiling and integrating the existing scholarship of Latin American studies.[5] The entire product took more than fifteen years to be completed[6] The work, was praised widely, with the historian Paul Gootenberg noting that the series had "earned rave scholarly reviews throughout the 1990s".[7] The Library Journal referred to the first two volumes of the series as "the most detailed, comprehensive, and authoritative work on the subject available"[8], while the political scientist Paul W. Drake called various volumes in the set "landmark[s] in their field."[9] Reviews were not completely positive, however, with some of the volumes being described as "unwieldy"[10] and skewed too much to the present age.[11] Alternately, the series has also been criticized for its lack of coverage of issues whose impacts have extended into contemporary times and of the trends that had
He is a former Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London (1987-92), and founding Director of the Centre for Brazilian Studies, University of Oxford (1997-2007).
He has been Visiting Professor at a number of Brazilian and US universities and research institutions, including the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (1979), the University of California, San Diego (1986), the University of Chicago (1992-3), and the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington D.C: Fellow (1987), Guest Scholar (1996-7), Public Policy Scholar (2008-9, 2010 and 2011).
Professor Bethell's research has been principally in the field of nineteenth and twentieth-century Latin American – and especially Brazilian – political, social and cultural history. His publications include The abolition of the Brazilian slave trade (Cambridge, 1970; Port. trans. 1976; 2nd Port. trans., 2002), (editor, with Ian Roxborough) Latin America between the Second World War and the Cold War (Cambridge, 1992; Port. trans. 1996), The Paraguayan War (1864-1870) (London, 1996), (editor) Brasil: fardo do passado, promessa do futuro. Dez ensaios sobre politica e sociedade brasileira (Rio de Janeiro, 2002), Brazil by British and Irish authors (Oxford, 2003), (editor, with José Murilo de Carvalho) Joaquim Nabuco e os abolicionistas britânicos (Rio de Janeiro, 2008; Eng. trans., 2009), and Charles Landseer- Desenhos e Aquarelas de Portugal e do Brasil, 1825-1826 (Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Moreira Salles, 2010).
He is Editor of the Cambridge History of Latin America (12 volumes, Cambridge University Press, 1984-2008), which is also being published in Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese, and the author or co-author of chapters on the Independence of Brazil and Brazil 1822-1850 in CHLA vol. III Latin America, from Independence to c. 1870 and four chapters on the politics of Brazil 1930-2002 in CHLA vol. IX Brazil since 1930 (2008).
Professor Bethell serves on the International Advisory Councils of a number of Brazilian institutions and on the Editorial Boards of several Brazilian journals.
Professor Bethell has been awarded the Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul by the Brazilian government (Comendador in 1994, Grande Oficial in 1998). In 2004 he was elected a member of the Academia Brasileira de Ciências. In 2010 he was elected a sócio correspondente (one of twenty foreign associate members) of the Academia Brasileira de Letras. He also in 2010 received the Ordem Nacional do Merito Cientifico (Comendador).
He currently lives in Rio de Janeiro.He is the sole editor of the eleven volume Cambridge History of Latin America, a massive attempt at compiling and integrating the existing scholarship of Latin American studies.[5] The entire product took more than fifteen years to be completed[6] The work, was praised widely, with the historian Paul Gootenberg noting that the series had "earned rave scholarly reviews throughout the 1990s".[7] The Library Journal referred to the first two volumes of the series as "the most detailed, comprehensive, and authoritative work on the subject available"[8], while the political scientist Paul W. Drake called various volumes in the set "landmark[s] in their field."[9] Reviews were not completely positive, however, with some of the volumes being described as "unwieldy"[10] and skewed too much to the present age.[11] Alternately, the series has also been criticized for its lack of coverage of issues whose impacts have extended into contemporary times and of the trends that had
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 6, 2019
Cuba A Short History edited by Leslie Bethell consists of four long essays by four different scholarly authors. It covers the time from the Eighteenth Century to the present. I found this to be a very even handed book, neither anti Castro nor pro US. The essays did show the controls the US put on Cuba through the Platt Amendment after the 1898 Spanish American War put unfair limits on Cuba. To make Cuba safe for US business interests Cubans were limited in how they could develop and prosper in their own country. The US supported several brutal and unsavory dictators who were good for US business interests but not for Cubans own development. The final essay by Jorge Dominguez of Harvard gave a great amount of detail of the ups and downs of Cubans economy during the Castro years. Since my recent visit to Cuba I have realized I didn't know nearly enough about the island's history. This book was a good start to correcting that deficiency.
September 13, 2013
Cuba a short history is exactly that, a very concise look at the changes in Cuba. This book does not get deep into any particular moment in the history of Cuba, but instead quickly states names and years of events with a brief narrative of these events. This book offers a skimming view from 1750 to 1980 and it's less than 200 pages so you know your getting a quick glance with tons of information in this read.
November 8, 2013
Really good overview, very informative. Great starting place.
June 27, 2025
Reads like a textbook.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews