Product Description
From the founding of Ybor City in 1886 to the dispersal of Tampa's Latin population in the years following World War II, this book documents the history of the Cuban, Spanish, and Italian immigrants who created the cigar industry in Tampa and the extraordinary multi-ethnic community that flourished around it. Over 200 photos capture this community's personalities and way of life while commentary drawn from newspaper accounts, oral histories, and archival documents identifies and explains each photograph's historical place and significance. In linking the photographs with historical text, the authors allow the cigar workers to tell their own story, in the language of their day.

The rich photographic record around which the book is organized documents the lives of the immigrant cigar workers not only in the workplace but also in their vibrant neighborhoods in Ybor City and West Tampa. Highlighting the diversity of the cigar workers' community, the book depicts the making of cigars, the work culture, local support for the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898), unions and strikes, community institutions such as mutual aid clubs, leisure activities, and social practices surrounding courtship, marriage, and death.

Focusing on the public spaces of work and society as well the private sphere of the home, Tampa's Cigar Workers tells an inspiring and deeply moving story of how immigrant cigar workers from Cuba, Spain, and Italy carved out their space in Tampa while struggling to survive economically and defending their ideals and way of life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

priceless!
Some members of my mother's family left Spain for Cuba and finally settled in Florida...Tampa and Key West.I recently gifted my 64 year old cousin with this book after recent surgery.He is a cigar aficionado and the only magazines and books in his home seem to be about cigars.I gave him this book and one on cigars and upon his opening this book there was no stopping the conversation about our family.It was a wonderful 2-1/2 hour visit and it certainly cheered him up.When I called the next day his wife said he hadn't put the book down yet.

Our family is rich in history in Tampa. I was born in Ybor City and still visit there frequently even though I am about two hours away.Its still home.My grandmothers, grandfathers, great aunts and great uncles were all cigarmakers.My grandmother Elisa Simon was still handrolling cigars in Ybor City when she passed away in 1989.Even though most of the older generation in my family are all gone, books like this still bring the memories rushing back.

This book is indeed priceless.I think its the best gift I have ever given anyone judging by its reception.I'm glad I chose it.

suprisingly content-rich
These kind of books are usually full of great photographs with very little explanation of what they display. I was expected the same with this book, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a good amount of actual context and content along with the photographs.

This is a great read + a perfect coffee table book for anyone interested in Tampa / Ybor City history. It serves as a perfect companion piece to another recent history of the area, the more informative Frank Lastra's Ybor City: The Making of a Landmark Town. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
A History of the Cuban Revolution presents a concise socio-historical account of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, an event that continues to spark debate 50 years later. 

• Balances a comprehensive overview of the political and economic events of the revolution with a look at the revolution’s social impact
• Provides a lively, on-the-ground look at the lives of ordinary people
• Features both U.S. and Cuban perspectives to provide a complete and well-rounded look at the revolution and its repercussions
• Encourages students to understand history through the viewpoint of individuals living it

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Skip it
Poorly written. Boring. The author does not make the subject come alive. Plus this is NOT a story about Miami. It's a story about African Americans. People like Steve Clark and Alice Wainwright are never mentioned but there are several entries on MLK. I don't have a problem with a written history of African Americans in Miami. But why the picture of a Cuban Freedom flighter on the cover? Call it A history of African Americans in Miami and put Theodore Gibson on the cover and I am happy as a clam. Except that it's still poorly written and boring. I'd give it no stars but Amazon insists on at least one. ... Read more

Product Description
The world remembers the thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a very close brush with nuclear war between the Cold Warís two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.The reality is that the crisis was the result of a culmination of actions taken by the U.S. to strengthen its military might in the world, to a degree that left the Soviets fast falling far behind.Cuba was a pawn that was played to exact leveraged balance over the U.S.

This book provides a very brief introduction to the conflict. ... Read more

Product Description
In Guarding Cultural Memory, Flora González Mandri examines the vibrant and uniquely illuminating post-Revolutionary creative endeavors of Afro-Cuban women. Taking on the question of how African diaspora cultures practice remembrance, she reveals the ways in which these artists restage the confrontations between modernity and tradition.

González Mandri considers the work of the poet and cultural critic Nancy Morejón, the poet Excilia Saldaña, the filmmaker Gloria Rolando, and the artists María Magdalena Campos-Pons and Belkis Ayón. In their cultural representations these women conflate the artistic, the historical, and the personal to produce a transformative image of the black woman as a forger of Cuban culture. They achieve this in several ways: by redefining autobiography as a creative expression for the convergence of the domestic and the national; by countering the eroticized image of the mulatta in favor of a mythical conception of the female body as a site for the engraving of cultural and national conflicts and resolutions; and by valorizing certain aesthetic and religious traditions in relation to a postmodern artistic sensibility.

Placing these artists in their historical context, González Mandri shows how their accomplishments were consistently silenced in official Cuban history and culture and explores the strategies through which culturally censored memories survived-and continue to survive-in a Caribbean country purported to have integrated its Hispanic and African peoples and heritages into a Cuban identity. The picture that finally emerges is one not only of exceptional artistic achievement but also of successful redefinitions of concepts of race, gender, and nation in the face of almost insurmountable cultural odds. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Over 1,500 men played major league baseball during the golden era of the 1920s, and over 850 played in the Negro leagues during the same decade. At the end of the 20th century only about 20 of those men were still alive. The author of this work tracked down all of those players, 14 of whom were able to grant an interview. In this unique book, those players and five former sportswriters give first person accounts of baseball in the 1920s and early 1930s. They talk of the greatest players in the history of the game-Babe Ruth, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Walter Johnson and Martin Dihigo-and of their own memorable careers.
Those interviewed are major leaguers Bill Rogell, Willis Hudlin, Clyde Sukeforth, Ray Hayworth, Paul Hopkins, Bob Cremins, Frank Stewart, Karl Swanson, Mel Harder, Ben Sankey, Carl Sumner and Bill Werber; Negro leaguers Ted Radcliffe and Harold Tinker; Cuban leaguer Rodolfo Fernandez; and sportswriters Will Cloney, Fred Russell, Harold Rosenthal, Carl Lundquist and Will Grimsley. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent book.
Mr. Wilson has done a wonderful job of researching and writing this book. The stories are written very well, using colorful and illustrativelanguage.This book makes a tremendous gift for the baseball fan. ... Read more

Product Description
A small child when Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, the author grew up amid the chaotic events of the revolution and witnessed the irrevocable changes it brought to her family and community. After requesting to leave the country when the family plantation was seized and ruined, Flor and her family were taunted and labeled gusanos (worms). At 11, she was sent away to a rural work camp where she picked tobacco and sugar cane for two years. Despite daily hardships, Flor found wisdom and comfort among the older women in her family, each of whom taught her about the power of spirits and the magical ways of healing. Moving to the United States in 1970, she left them behind but carried their curanderismo -- healing wisdom -- with her.Amazon.com Review
On the surface, this beautifully written memoir is rivetingsimply because it revolves around a young girl growing up in Cubaduring the Communist revolution. When Flor Fernandez Barrios's parentsconsider fleeing Castro's regime, they are labeled gusanos, ortraitors. Neighbors shame and taunt them. At the age of 10, Barrios issent away along with thousands of other children to a work camp, whereshe is forced into hard labor, picking tobacco and sugar cane tooffset the U.S. embargo.

Barrios could have relied upon thedramatic details of her life in Cuba to make this memoirfascinating. But instead she dared to mine the depths of the culturaland spiritual story beneath the surface. Like Isabel Allende's The House of theSpirits, this is a tale of magic, spirits, and familydevotion. Throughout her childhood, Barrios's mystical grandmothers,as well as her Afro-Cuban nanny, teach her the names and stories oftheir indigenous spirits, and their secret spells of healing. It isthese Cuban spirits who thunder and comfort Barrios during hershameful punishments at work camp. Years later, the memories of herCuban mentors and healing spirits help the exiled Barrios find herplace in a new country. This is a highly recommended story of Cubanlife, spiritual heritage, and human fortitude. --Gail Hudson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Powerful beyond measure.
Thank you, Flor, for sharing your story.You came through your experiences as a child with such grace and strength.Your descriptions of people and events made each come alive for me as a reader; I felt as though I was there with you at times.I gave copies of your book to all of my closest friends and my husband in the hopes that they too might take the journey through all of the stories told and emotions felt and shared.

WOW!Well done!!!
As I read on, I felt as though it was MY OWN story!I, too came from Cuba at 15 and being the author's age went through most of the same experiences.It's about time that we put it out there for non Cuban-Americans to know.There is NOTHING fun, romantic or exotic about Cuba.Castro's is a bloody dictatorship that destroys human beings!I admire the author for her courage.She has inspired me to some day tell my own story.
Marina, Pembroke Pines, Florida

Excellent!
The stories in Cuba were amazing.I was transported to Cuba and was right there observing the island, the people, the food, the smells, the conversations, the textures, the pain, the joy, etc.

There were so many times that I had to put the book down because I could not go any further in my emotional state. I even experienced my spirit stronger than I ever have while reading a certain passage.Thank you.It would be nice to know where you are now with your spirituality.Maybe that will be the follow-up book!

Bless you, mom and dad
I thank God daily for the decision my parents made when sending me alone out of Cuba . Since my parents thought that they could say they were going on vacation, they had also packed to leave with me but the militia was too wise for that and held my mom's and dad's visa at the docks since they had not left everything to the government.At the precise moment they decided to send me alone (8-05-61)on the last cargo ferry that left Havana with sugar,under the care of Pedro Pan Operation. I was starting fourth grade that September of 1961 and I would have gone through the same ordeal Teresa went through. I admire Flor Teresa for the loyalty to her parents and family, for her courage of making the best of the moment and for her maturity at such young age. I believe that young as well as old will get teachings from this book. Teachingsof survival, of meeting with your goals, of distinguishing what is right from what is wrong and of giving a value to the simple things in life. As an adult Flor Teresa must be an extraordinary human being.

Well Done
The book was a smooth read. Ms. Fernandez-Barrios made me feel apart of her. Her memoir was so vivid.She connected herself to all the ancestrial roots of Cuba.She is an excellent writer.I would love to see more literature by this author. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes life, culture, and politics in the Cuban-American community (especially Miami), and the effect of Cuban history on the various waves of Cuban migration to the United States. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "The Cuban Missile Crisis," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have The Cuban Missile Crisis in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with The Cuban Missile Crisis when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name The Cuban Missile Crisis, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
Text and pictures present an account of the 1962 confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union resulting from a confirmation of the existence of Russian offensive missiles in Cuba, considered to be a threat of nuclear war. ... Read more

Product Description
Discusses the past and present political upheavals that drove the Cubans to American soil. ... Read more

Product Description
This study offers a unique perspective in interpreting the cultural politics of Cuba's complex history through an exploration of the country's literature. The book introduces readers to some of Cuba's most eminent and engaging voices by examining some of the historical tropes put forth by major writers. Drawing on an array of interpretive approaches from mythopoetic analysis to phenomenology, West addresses the work of Nancy Morejon, Alejo Carpentier, Virgilio Pinera, Dulce Maria Loynaz, Jose Lezama Lima, and Severo Sarduy. This poetic look at Cuba's rich and turbulent history through the eyes of its writers will be of interest to students and scholars of Latin American history and culture. ... Read more