Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive But Badly Organized
Review: Baker's "Cuba Handbook" is unbelievably detailed and comprehensive. And those attributes are at the root of what makes the book wonderful and a pain in the butt. For example, the first 200 to 300 pages of this book (in other words, the entire length of a typical guidebook) is devoted to geography, flora, fauna, and a very good primer on the history of Cuba -- information that is good for pre-travel reading, but not particularly useful when one is there. The city of Havana takes up another 200 pages or so. Every detail of Havana is covered, from the most exhaulted buildings and museums, to the most trivial and mundane aspects of the city. But organization is sorely lacking. This is a book that is a daunting challenge in any respect to carry around with you (at 600+ pages, the book alone might tip the scales at airport check-in). One thing we were unprepared for during the trip is the sheer volume of attractions compacted in Old Havana. While Baker cannot be faulted for devoting a good amount of space in the book to these dazzling places and describing their unique details, they are unbelievably difficult to find in the book because they are not organized in the same fashion typical of many guidebooks (i.e., numbered and cross-referenced on a map). Instead, Baker uses the bizarre tactic of organizing Old Havana attractions by street in a straight linear pattern, making it daunting to find his comments on a particular building or museum if one decides to just wonder around. In other words, Baker expects that even if you are staying in the middle of Obispo street, as we were, you should walk blindly through to where the street originates so that then, and only then, you can follow along with his narrative. In fact, he offers no help whatsover in suggested walking tours anywhere in the country. Imagine a guidebook for New York being written so as to describe all of the attractions on Broadway, from lower Manhattan to the upper west side, then immediately continuing by describing the attractions on Greenwich back in lower Manhattan, and you get a good idea of what passes for "organization" in this book. Apparantly, the author and publisher expect you to travel a street in A to Z fashion, then continue on a parallel street back at A, with no numerical cross-references on a map to boot. I referenced the book while traveling in the area of the Bay of Pigs two weeks ago. First of all, there is not much to see or do in the Bay of Pigs other than to go to the beach (and there are much better beaches), despite Baker's claims and long passages about this area. The museum, which Baker raves about ("superb," he calls it), I found terribly amatuerish (guns...lots of guns...and very poor quality photos and captions). If you have seen one Revolutionary museum in Cuba (and there are much better ones in Havana), then you have seen them all. It is a long detour to go to the Bay of Pigs only to find that there is not much to see once there, unless one is going to go through the nature preserve of Zapata. Buried in the book is a very useful detail that, once leaving the Bay of Pigs, make sure and take the first fork, because the second fork is a road that is unmaintained. Unfortunately, this valuable detail was so carefully hidden amidst other lengthy prose that I did not see it until being well into the bad road. Further complicating matters, is that Cuba is in a state of massive remodeling. Old Havana's and Trinidad's museums are in a state of massive restoration or adaptive reuse (for example, Casa Brunet in Trinidad is closed for a year of remodeling), and that makes some of Baker's descriptions moot. There are two massive art museums under construction right now. By the way, the architecure museum in Trinidad (and the wonderful guide there) is one of the best museums we saw in the country and gets only scant mention in this book. Also, I disagreed with many of Baker's beach recommendations -- the most astounding beach I witnessed, 23 kilometers of perfect and untouristed sand and water, was near Remedios (Cayo de Las Brujas/Cayo de Santa Maria), virtually ignored by Baker but given a strong recommendation in Fodor's. Despite its shortcomings, I found much useful information. With better organization, this book would easily be the essential guide to Cuba. Unfortunately, I could never figure out how to retain all of Baker's good details in a valuable way for my journey. This book needed a hard-nosed editor with a whip and a strong sense of organization. I bought virtually all of the guidebooks for Cuba, and a better guide for pratical travel purposes is Fodor's (I am usually not a fan of their books, but their Cuba guide is excellent in all respects).
Rating: 
Summary: The Definitive Cuban Guidebook!
Review: Chris Baker knows Cuba intimately. This guidebook is hands down better than the others (in fact, forget Lonely Planet on Cuba - trust me). It contains a brief history of culture and politics (the two entwined in this country) as well as in-depth coverage of the sites you want to see.
Cuba is not a country where information is readily obtained. This writer shows he's knows his stuff, and has done years of homework. Read it closely.
What you will need to supplement this guide are three things:
1. A list of "casa particulars" or private rooms in private homes. The ones listed in Moon are already too popular and nearly impossible to get a reservation. (There are websites that will help you with this, or just ask a cab driver in Cuba to show you a few homes.)
2. Restaurants. Moon does not include many of the the newer, better, private restaurants. No one goes to Cuba for the food, but nothing is worse than overpaying for a mediocre meal. Ask around for the good places, or do a search on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree web postings.
3. Clubs and bars. Some of the ones listed are institutions, but in Cuba the nightlife venues changes constantly. Ask locals, don't waste your money at some of the tourist traps mentioned in Moon.
Have a good time!
Rating:
Summary: Exhaustive
Review: Christopher Baker has written an absolutely fabulous guide book to Cuba. It's clearly written, with wit and charm, and it's very obvious that he spent a lot of time in the country exploring the things he talks about. Few things are mentioned in passing - if he's put it in here, you can be sure he's included a fair amount of detail. A good buy.
Rating: 
Summary: great guide
Review: Christopher Baker is a real writer and obviously very knowledgeable about Cuba. I spent 2 weeks there a couple of years ago with the Cuba Handbook and the Lonely Planet version... The Cuba Handbook was so much more up to date, accurate, in-depth and intelligent it made the Lonely Planet book pretty useless.
Rating:
Summary: Don't leave home without it
Review: Having just returned from a 10-day research trip to Cuba, I can vouch for the excellent information in this book. I bought it based on customer reviews published here, and it was the right decision. Before I left, it was great for orienting me -- after I arrived it was priceless as far as answering the many questions about Cuba that cropped up after a few days there. The book provides wonderful sidebars on such topics as: the Mafia in Cuba, sex and tourism, how Cubans feel about the Revolution, a brief bio of Castro, the history of baseball, how the governement works -- even info on what Americans can do to help end the embargo. My fellow travelers kept wanting to borrow my book during the trip. Although it was too bulky and heavy for carrying around all day in Havana (I preferred just a small map), it was perfect evening and morning reading to help me digest the incredible things I was seeing and learning about. Now I'm reading it to get ready for my next trip there -- I'm in love with the place.
Rating:
Summary: The BIBLE for Cuba
Review: I have been to Cuba many, many times. This is, without a doubt, the ultimate source on this wonderful land. It is honest about Cuba, its people and history, and avoids the smug "know it all" political correctness of the Lonely Planet guide. It is also far more detailed and insightful. Cuba is challenging place to know and understand. There are multiple levels to it. This book allows the beginner and experienced Cuba traveler alike to dig deep in its enigmatic ways.
Rating: 
Summary: Some good points some bad points
Review: I own twenty of the Moon Guides and have read another twenty of the moon Guides. Dollar for dollar, they provide the best value of all the major guidebook publishers. The Moon Guides tend to be very well researched and provide a lot of information as to where to eat, sleep, and what to see in even the most remote places. The Cuba Handbook is probably on of the most extensively researched of the Moon Guides and it provides approximately 700 pages of detailed information. I do not think that there is a single town in Cuba that does not get mentioned at least once in the book. Havana gets a very extensive treatment totalling approximately 200 pages. Despite the research that has gone into this book, it is very difficult to recommend this book. Over 150 pages of the book are dedicated to very simplistic discussions of US-Cuban relations from a decidedly pro-Castro point of view. While many of the Moon Guides do provide some very brief political analysis, this one goes absolutely overboard with it.
Rating:
Summary: Some good points some bad points
Review: I own twenty of the Moon Guides and have read another twenty of the moon Guides. Dollar for dollar, they provide the best value of all the major guidebook publishers. The Moon Guides tend to be very well researched and provide a lot of information as to where to eat, sleep, and what to see in even the most remote places. The Cuba Handbook is probably on of the most extensively researched of the Moon Guides and it provides approximately 700 pages of detailed information. I do not think that there is a single town in Cuba that does not get mentioned at least once in the book. Havana gets a very extensive treatment totalling approximately 200 pages. Despite the research that has gone into this book, it is very difficult to recommend this book. Over 150 pages of the book are dedicated to very simplistic discussions of US-Cuban relations from a decidedly pro-Castro point of view. While many of the Moon Guides do provide some very brief political analysis, this one goes absolutely overboard with it.
Rating:
Summary: It helped me put into words what eyes were witnessing!
Review: I've never gone on an overseas adventure without a guide book, and usually they are good for a few phone numbers and museum hours, but mostly end up being dead weight in your pack. This book on Cuba was like a lifeline during my adventure in Fidel's homeland. Anyone who has been to this pearl of the caribbean know's the social, political and economical ocean that is the Cuba of today is 100,000 leagues deep, and as a foreigner you feel as though you are caught, tumbling, in a wave not knowing which way is up. This book helps to make sense of Cubas past, while helping you to understand the nuances that hint to its uncertain future. A true pleasure to explore, with my Moon's book in hand!
Rating:
Summary: Much more than a travel guide...
Review: I've recently returned from a month-long working trip in Cuba. I read this book before going, while there and once again upon my return. Not only was the travel information accurate and thorough, I was well prepared for understanding the people and the culture. I am writing an article about my experiences there and find myself returning to the book for details that need reconfirming. It is much more than a travel guide....
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