El Caso CEA: Intelectuales e Inquisidores en Cuba. ¿ Perestroika en la Isla ?

Rating:
Summary: Excellent material !
Review: In this book, Maurizio Giuliano has been able to collect material which may otherwise have been destroyed, on the secret tensions and divergencies among Cuba's political élites. It is the first time that this type of documents are published, enabling scholars and others to know more on this delicate issue. The stories of repression against Cuba's dissidents are no news, but the repression and internal purges within the élites are something very different, which can indeed tell us a lot about the prospects for change in Cuba 'from within'. This book therefore does a marvelous job. It constitutes an extremely valuable source, as well as fascinating reading with extremely astute intepretations and observations.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent material !
Review: In this book, Maurizio Giuliano has been able to collect material which may otherwise have been destroyed, on the secret tensions and divergencies among Cuba's political élites. It is the first time that this type of documents are published, enabling scholars and others to know more on this delicate issue. The stories of repression against Cuba's dissidents are no news, but the repression and internal purges within the élites are something very different, which can indeed tell us a lot about the prospects for change in Cuba 'from within'. This book therefore does a marvelous job. It constitutes an extremely valuable source, as well as fascinating reading with extremely astute intepretations and observations.

Rating:
Summary: Not just a book... A major impact on Cuban politics today !
Review: The impact of this book on current Cuban politics has been understood and discussed. However, it is still largely understated. Since the publication of this book back in 1998, the Cuban élites were no longer able to deny that a differentiation of opinions and views was taking place, and that there were hard-liners, moderates, and progressive thinkers - all groups among whom conflict had already been taking place. Such conflict was usually under closed curtains and may never be known, but sometimes it did leak out, and indeed it did so with this book, with unprecedented strength and virulence. The publication of this book, and the arrival of an estimated 500 copies in the island (thanks to exile organizations), has produced a truly tremendous impact, the consequences of which have taken place since 1998, but will continue to haunt the Cuban regime until it finally collapses.

Rating:
Summary: Not just a book... A major impact on Cuban politics today !
Review: The impact of this book on current Cuban politics has been understood and discussed. However, it is still largely understated. Since the publication of this book back in 1998, the Cuban élites were no longer able to deny that a differentiation of opinions and views was taking place, and that there were hard-liners, moderates, and progressive thinkers - all groups among whom conflict had already been taking place. Such conflict was usually under closed curtains and may never be known, but sometimes it did leak out, and indeed it did so with this book, with unprecedented strength and virulence. The publication of this book, and the arrival of an estimated 500 copies in the island (thanks to exile organizations), has produced a truly tremendous impact, the consequences of which have taken place since 1998, but will continue to haunt the Cuban regime until it finally collapses.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating for those interested in Cuba, and for all others
Review: This book uncovers the evil machineries of Castro's repressive apparatus. As it unveils the full real story of a 1996 purge against Cuba's top academics, it brings us back to the times of Stalinist terror - but in our century, and in the Western Hemisphere ! The author has managed to get hold of confidential (or secret ?) documents, which no other scholar had been able to acquire. The book offers an excellent and valid academic approach, but it is at the same time a "human story", it is written in a style similar to a novel even though - unfortunately - it is pure reality. It tells the story of human beings living their everyday lives in Castro's Cuba, who have suffered this horrible tragedy, even leading to the death of one of them. It will be pleasant and enjoyable for the average reader, even if she/he is not so informed about the subject.

Rating:
Summary: The best analysis I have ever found on Cuba's intelligentsia
Review: This is a truly great book. By providing a detailed account of the major 'purge' of Cuba's intellectuals in the 1990s, the author examines and analyses the delicate and intricate relations between the apparatus and the island's renowned intelligentsia. Some issues (often taboo even for Western academics) are approached very directly and very balancedly, such as the blurred border-lines between research and espionage, and the relations between genuine intellectuals and Cuba's repressive apparatus - indeed, the same apparatus that occasionally purges them. The arguments contained in this book derive from genuine evidence of crucial importance, namely those would-be classified documents, which somehow leaked out of Cuba in 1998 and were published by the author, causing great embarrassment by the Cuban Government, and an uproar among intellectuals, artists and others. Over 100 pages of those documents are contained in the book itself. Altogether, this is excellent reading. It is extremely central to the study and knowledge of today's Cuba.

Rating:
Summary: The best analysis I have ever found on Cuba's intelligentsia
Review: This is a truly great book. By providing a detailed account of the major 'purge' of Cuba's intellectuals in the 1990s, the author examines and analyses the delicate and intricate relations between the apparatus and the island's renowned intelligentsia. Some issues (often taboo even for Western academics) are approached very directly and very balancedly, such as the blurred border-lines between research and espionage, and the relations between genuine intellectuals and Cuba's repressive apparatus - indeed, the same apparatus that occasionally purges them. The arguments contained in this book derive from genuine evidence of crucial importance, namely those would-be classified documents, which somehow leaked out of Cuba in 1998 and were published by the author, causing great embarrassment by the Cuban Government, and an uproar among intellectuals, artists and others. Over 100 pages of those documents are contained in the book itself. Altogether, this is excellent reading. It is extremely central to the study and knowledge of today's Cuba.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating story of everyday life in today's Cuba
Review: This is of course an academic book, filled with information and data from secret documents which the author managed to obtain from unknown sources. It offers an analysis of the events it describes, as well as a lot of reflexions and interpretations. Yet, at the same time this is a 'human story', of women and men (perhaps special women and men, but still human beings) in today's Cuba. The book tells of their struggle in Castro's Cuba, to achieve or to maintain their own little niches of freedom within the regime. The book is not only interesting, but also fascinating to read, and makes excellent reading for all.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating story of everyday life in today's Cuba
Review: This is of course an academic book, filled with information and data from secret documents which the author managed to obtain from unknown sources. It offers an analysis of the events it describes, as well as a lot of reflexions and interpretations. Yet, at the same time this is a 'human story', of women and men (perhaps special women and men, but still human beings) in today's Cuba. The book tells of their struggle in Castro's Cuba, to achieve or to maintain their own little niches of freedom within the regime. The book is not only interesting, but also fascinating to read, and makes excellent reading for all.