Havana

"Havana: Autobiography of a City" looks beyond Cold War politics and the nostalgia of Cuban exiles to discover the real city and its fascinating history. The book takes readers from the Plaza de Armas, the tree-lined square where Havana was founded by conquistadors in 1519, to the Malecon, the elegant boulevard along the shore where Fidel Castro rode a Russian tank in triumph. Estrada portrays the adventurers and dreamers who left their mark on Havana, such as explorer Hernando de Soto; Jose Marti, martyr for Cuban independence; and Ernest Hemingway, the most American of writers who became an unabashed Habanero. The book is a deeply personal account of a love affair with a city, as well as an entertaining portrait of a place not easily forgotten.