Cuba: Castro, Revolution, and the End of the Embargo

Poorly written with numerous factual mistakes. The book often gets basic dates wrong. While trivial, it makes for an odd read when, for example, it says that the Eisenhower government recognized the new Cuban government on January 7th, 1961 (actually, 1959) and then states that the US Government severed ties with the Cuban government on January 3rd, 1961 (pages 55 and 57). On page 33 it refers to a UN resolution in 1942. The UN didn't exist at the time. Little mistakes like this add up and makes one wonder "did an editor read this, and what else did they get wrong?"If you're looking for basic, beginner level Cuban history, this is not it. Read a Wikipedia article instead.

As a child of the 60s, so many names and phrases were familiar but I was too young at the time to understand (or care?) what they meant. I find myself wanting to learn about history the older I get, so this book filled in a lot of blanks! I had no idea that Cuba had “reinvented” itself so many times over the years! I loved the little “did you know?” blurbs as well as the sections on movie info/trivia, cigars, the Revolution Quick Study and famous Cubans. There is also a section about the US Presidents and the impact they had on Cuba at the time (interesting to note that it seemed more about loosening then tightening restrictions on a regular basis than by political party) The Guantánamo Bay information was interesting too. On page 14 there is an error that wasn’t caught by proofreaders as a paragraph was printed twice, but since the majority of the content was new to me, that is the only negative thing that stood out. Perhaps I would restructure just a little and put the ‘cliff note’ info at the beginning of a chapter instead of in the middle….made it feel like I was reading the same info 2-3 times. With the travel restrictions recently eased, if you are thinking of going to Cuba I would say this is a must read. If you enjoy learning about other cultures and history in general, I recommend this book. It was an easy read (3-4 hours with several interruptions) and has lots of color and graphics to keep you turning the pages! I have a grandson that is interested in history and is soaking it up like a sponge so I plan to offer this book to him and I see several similar Lightning Guides we will read in the future!*I received this book free in exchange for an honest review*

This book about Cuba was definitely an interesting read. I never really knew much about Cuba, since it was kind of "forbidden." This book definitely opens your eyes to a lot of interesting facts about Cuba. It doesn't really take too long to read this book, as it is small - smaller than I thought it would be), but packed with information. I found it interesting that people in the United States can actually travel to Cuba for educational purposes or with a group. Even though Cuba is well known for it's sugar cane and tobacco industries, it was interesting to learn that tourism is Cuba's biggest industry. This book also gives you a good history on Fidel Castro, and so much more. This would be a really good book for those children who have to do book reports, because it doesn't take too long to get through the book, and it actually keeps your interest the whole way through. There are even pictures that bring it all together. I would definitely recommend it. I received this product complimentary for my honest review.

This book was very simple and well written and pretty accurate. It is "surprisingly" complete, conscise and easy to read for different education levels in spite of being so small. It is short but relatively comprehensive given the size of the book (a little bit bigger than to fit in an oversized pocket). This book is a handy tool to read if you are going to Cuba or want to talk about Cuba intelligently, and can be used as a quick refresher or reference tool. The book is entertaining, informative and engaging, and your brain doesn't want to wander as you read through it. You finished it before you know it. This book is for you if you have very limited amount of time to read about Cuba and want to get right to the nuts and bolts. It sticks to the facts and doesn't seem to be trying to convince people to take sides between U.S. and Cuba. Good pictures and graphs for visual people.

I really love the format and layout of Lightning Guides books and found this one on Cuba to be very interesting and informative. I appreciate that the Lightning Guides books are small enough to slip into my purse to read on the go. The pictures, facts, content, and graphics are very entertaining and make this book a fun and easy read.I have enjoyed reading about the history and politics of Cuba as well as their culture. I was surprised to learn that the Cuban healthcare system is one of the best in the world and provides a higher level of medical personnel to the Third World than the entire G8 group combined. I also found the section on the US presidents from Eisenhower to Obama to be quite interesting. It was compelling to learn of the challenges and improvements they have faced in regards to relations with Cuba.The Lightning Guides books are a great source of information in a small, entertaining, and easy to read package. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, it is a great read for all ages.*I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

The kindle edition is presumably a scan or PDF rendering of the paper book. by default the text is illegibly small (and I mean smaller than the device can display, not just smaller than I can read). Attempts to increase the zoom make the text impossibly big so it requires about 5 scroll actions across and back to read each line.Obviously I haven't read it. I didn't want to give a 1 star rating because I don't want to put anyone off what is reportedly a good book, but it's definitely a no-star on kindle i'm afraid.

Great overview of Cuba, with lovely pics and well written..however no in depth knowledge , its more like a guide book.

Cheap and full of mistakes. DEH

Good little read