Important and recomended reading!

CUBA RISING
An American insider's perspective
by Jonathan Showe
ed. Global Insights Press, Carmel, USA, 2010

I've only been to Cuba only 20 times in 15 years. The writer paid the island more than 70 visits in 12 years. So he made more observations and with his international experience and working decades for the US-government his approach of Cuba, not just as an island like others, is one of a
' croniqueur ' as well as a passionate observer and storyteller.
As a matter of fact I don't agree with all of his interpretations but I may say that it is one of the best books I ever read about Cuba, especially because he's a US-citizen. I say this because we Europeans lost Cuba to them and only since the last 50 years it belongs to the Cubans.
Although influenced by US-media some of us are capable to observe Cuba as a sovereign state that is making his own history now. I know it's not as easy as it sounds and that's where Showe did a great job trying to understand and explain what is happening over-there and why it's so special and difficult to understand : “ Cuba is not just a state, it's a state of mind “ as he writes so beautifully.
The more you study on Cuba the more it seems impossible to demystify.
But Stowe makes it look so easy, amusing, hurting, laughable, interesting, fascinating and enjoyable at the same time. This doesn't make sense you shall say, well that's all it is about in Cuba, the state of mind is a state of contradictions. This book reveals all these impressions, impossible to be objective, a headache for anthropologists.
Fascinating is all you can say, economically poor, culturally rich, historically important.
Interested or not you'll read this book as a novel.
( Paul Evrard, Belgian independent journalist )