This is the first comprehensive history of the culturally diverse city, and the first to be co-authored by a Cuban and an American. Beginning with the founding of Havana in 1519, Cluster and Hernández explore the making of the city and its people through revolutions, art, economic development and the interplay of diverse societies. The authors bring together conflicting images of a city that melds cultures and influences to create an identity that is distinctly Cuban.

Dick Cluster is the author of the novels Return to Sender, Repulse Monkey, and Obligations of the Bone. He landed in Havana’s José Martí airport for the first time in 1969 and has been fascinated by the city ever since, exploring it by foot, bicycle, city bus, tour bus, camel bus, car, and other means. He is a translator of Cuban literature and teaches courses on Cuban history, culture, and politics at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, as well as interdisciplinary courses in other fields. Previous nonfiction books include They Should Have That Cup of Coffee, about U.S. radical movements of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and Shrinking Dollars, Vanishing Jobs, about the U.S. economy.Rafael Hernández is the editor of Temas, a Cuban quarterly in the field of history, culture, economics, and politics. Graduated from the University of Havana with a degree in French literature, and from the Colegio de Mexico in political science, since the 1970s he has researched and written about Cuban culture, society, history, and politics, Cuba-U.S. relations, and images of Cuba in the U.S. He has oriented, guided, and taught many American visitors to Cuba, whether students, academics, or travelers, been visiting professor and researcher at Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, the Woodrow Wilson Center, Tulane, and the University of Puerto Rico, and lectured at numerous other schools and academic conferences. His publications include three books of poetry and ten books of essays (his own and edited collections) published in Cuba, Mexico and the US. His essay collection Looking at Cuba won the Cuban Critics Award in 2000, and was published by the University Press of Florida in 2003.

Introduction: Un tipo muy popular * Key to the Indies * The Hour of the Mameys * Paris of the Antilles * Cecilia, Cabildos, and Contradance * Stirrings of Nationhood * Revolutions and Retributions: From the Teatro Villanueva to the Maine * Many Happy Returns?: U.S. Occupation and Its Aftermath * Symbol of an Era: Alberto Yarini y Ponce de León * Catch a Ford on the Malecón: Republican Havana's Growth and Decay * The Battle of Havana, 1933-35 * Radio Days * City Lights: The Fabulous Fifties * Havana in Revolution * Revolution with Pachanga: Havana Transfigured * Russian Meat, Miami Butterflies, and Other Unexpected Adventures * The Blackout: Havana in the 'Special Period' and Beyond Introduction: Un tipo muy popular * Key to the Indies * The Hour of the Mameys * Paris of the Antilles * Cecilia, Cabildos, and Contradance * Stirrings of Nationhood * Revolutions and Retributions: From the Teatro Villanueva to the Maine * Many Happy Returns?: U.S. Occupation and Its Aftermath * Symbol of an Era: Alberto Yarini y Ponce de León * Catch a Ford on the Malecón: Republican Havana's Growth and Decay * The Battle of Havana, 1933-35 * Radio Days * City Lights: The Fabulous Fifties * Havana in Revolution * Revolution with Pachanga: Havana Transfigured * Russian Meat, Miami Butterflies, and Other Unexpected Adventures * The Blackout: Havana in the 'Special Period' and Beyond