How Things Fall Apart: What Happened to the Cuban Revolution

In How Things Fall Apart Elizabeth Dore reveals the decay of the Cuban political system through the lives of seven ordinary Cuban citizens. Born in the 1970s and 1980s, they recount how their lives changed over a tumultuous stretch of thirty-five years: first when Fidel Castro opened the country to tourism following the fall of the Soviet bloc; then when RaÚl Castro allowed market forces to operate; and finally when President Trump’s tightening of the US embargo combined with the COVID-19 pandemic caused economic collapse. With warmth and humanity, they describe learning to survive in an environment where a tiny minority has grown rich, the great majority has been left behind, and inequality has destroyed the very things that used to give meaning to Cubans’ lives. In this book, everyday Cubans illuminate their own stories and the slow and agonizing decline of the Cuban Revolution.

About the Author :
Elizabeth Dore (1946–2022) was Professor Emeritus of Latin American History at the University of Southampton, author of Myths of Modernity: Peonage and Patriarchy in Nicaragua, and coeditor of Hidden Histories of Gender and the State in Latin America, both also published by Duke University Press.

Review :
“Masterful. Dore uses oral history to tell a history of Cuba from the bottom up, accompanied by her own astute commentary. How Things Fall Apart reads like a set of vivid short stories.” - Linda Gordon, author of (The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition) "How Things Fall Apart is a page-turner, even or perhaps especially for those readers who are familiar with the broad outlines of this story. Given the current political and economic crisis, it is hard to know when it will again be possible to conduct the kind of research that Dore was able to complete with her team. In the meantime, however, we are fortunate to have this wise and compassionate book with which to think through Cuba’s past, present, and future." - Jennifer L. Lambe (Hispanic American Historical Review) “An elegant account of the evolution of a revolution. Writing on a topic which still has the power to provoke the most visceral responses across the political spectrum, Dore has done a rare thing: she has let the Cuban people speak for themselves. Dore handles their stories of triumph and hardship with honesty, compassion, and respect, and in the process has held up a mirror to the state of the Cuban Revolution in the twenty-first century. How Things Fall Apart is a vital addition to Cuba’s rich oral tradition.” - Will Grant, BBC Mexico, Central America, and Cuba Correspondent "A lifelong socialist and principled scholar, the book is evidence that Dore was dedicated to not just hearing but to actually listening to diverse, critical, and often contradictory Cuban voices and then-in the estimation of BBC Latin American correspondent Will Grant-'doing a rare thing: she let them speak for themselves.' In the book’s 26 chapters, they describe in rich, lived detail the Revolution’s many challenges, rewards, dilemmas, and failures. As such, Dore’s book captures the lives and voices of some of the people who built, supported, opposed, and even fled the Revolution."   - Ted A. Henken (No Country Magazine) "How Things Fall Apart offers valuable insights for scholars of Latin American history and politics and for readers interested in Cuban history. For readers new to the topic, Dore's use of oral histories makes the complex subject matter more accessible. . . . Dore's work stands out for its ability to illuminate personal stories often overshadowed by grand historical narratives. While it may not provide a comprehensive analysis of the Revolution’s decline, her exploration of ordinary Cubans' everyday struggles, hopes, and disappointments offers a profoundly human perspective on a period usually dominated by political rhetoric and ideological debates. This is a compelling read for anyone interested in understanding the human impact of political and social change." - Tiffany A. Sippial (The Latin Americanist)