Back From the Future: Cuba Under Castro

This book has long been regarded as the definitive history of Castro's communist regime, beginning in 1959 through the 1990s. This updated, second edition contains a new epilogue by the author that covers the last decade, including such newsworthy events as the Elian Gonzalez controversy, the growing immigrant community of Cuban-Americans in Florida, the role of Cuban-Americans in the 2000 presidential election, the withering U.S. sales embargo and the inevitable transition of power now that Castro is in his mid-70s.

Table of Contents:
LIST OF TABLES PREFACE FOR THE SECOND EDITION PREFACE FOR THE FIRST EDITION ABBREVIATIONS CHAPTER ONE THE LIMITS AND POSSIBILITIES OF SOCIALISM CHAPTER TWO THE PUSH FOR COMMUNISM AND THE RETREAT TO SOCIALISM: 1959 TO 1985 CHAPTER THREE THE LATE 1980S CAMPAIGN TO RECTIFY ERRORS AND NEGATIVE TENDENCIES: SOCIALIST RENEGADE OR RETROGRADE IN THE ERA OF PERESTROIKA? CHAPTER FOUR FROM COMMUNIST SOLIDARITY TO COMMUNIST SOLITARY: THE 1990S SPECIAL PERIOD IN PEACETIME CHAPTER FIVE THE IRONY OF SUCCESS: SOCIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND THEIR UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES CHAPTER SIX A MAXIMUM OF RURALISM, A MINIMUM OF URBANISM: FROM IDEALISM TO REALISM CHAPTER SEVEN INTERNATIONALISM CHAPTER EIGHT THE RELEVANCE OF THE REVOLUTION CHAPTER NINE: EPILOGUE: DOLLARIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS IN THE POST SOVIET ERA Appendix: Tables Notes Index

About the Author :
Susan Eva Eckstein is Professor of Sociology at Boston University. She is the past President of the Latin American Studies Association and an Associate of Harvard University's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. She has authored many books and most recently co-edited Struggles for Social Rights in Latin America (Routledge, 2002).

Review :
"Back From the Future is arguably the best sociological book on the origins and evolution of the Cuban revolutionary experiment. The book provides an invaluable guide, for expert and neophyte alike, of the complexities and paradoxes of this unique national phenomenon." -- Alejandro Portes, co-author of Legacies:The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation "A decade after the Cold War's end, those who worship and loathe Fidel Castro are still debating the Cuban revolution's legacy. Eckstein side-steps this sterile debate and offers a superb historical and comparative evaluation. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to know where Cuba has come, and where it is going." -- Robert A. Pastor, author of Not Condemned toRepetition: The United States and Nicaragua