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Summary:
A unique history of Cuba, captured in the life and times of the famous rum dynasty
The Bacardis of Cuba, builders of a rum distillery and a worldwide brand, came of age with their nation and helped define what it meant to be Cuban. Across five generations, the Bacardi family has held fast to its Cuban identity, even in exile from the country for whose freedom they once fought. Now National Public Radio correspondent Tom Gjelten tells the dramatic story of one family, its business, and its nation, a 150-year tale with the sweep and power of an epic.
The Bacardi clan--patriots and bon vivants, entrepreneurs and intellectuals--provided an example of business and civic leadership in its homeland for nearly a century. From the fight for Cuban independence from Spain in the 1860s to the rise of Fidel Castro and beyond, there is no chapter in Cuban history in which the Bacardis have not played a role. In chronicling the saga of this remarkable family and the company that bears its name, Tom Gjelten describes the intersection of business and power, family and politics, community and exile.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
A fine pick for any general-interest library
Customer Rating:
In 1862 a businessman in Cuba with little experience in rum opened a small distillery hoping to make a working man's drink - and invented a formula that made his rum famous. Bacardi's company brought worldwide fame to Cuba and in decades to follow it would become integral with Cuban politics, economics and social life. BACARDI AND THE LONG FIGHT FOR CUBA documents the company's history and in the process provides hard-hitting insights on Cuban history and culture. A fine pick for any general-interest library.
Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch
Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba
Customer Rating:
Outstanding book!
My father was an executive with Bacardi for 25 years. As such, I have some knowledge about the company, its history, and many of the events related in the book, as well as knowing many of the people written about in the book.
The author has done a tremendous job in his research, and in getting the essence of the Bacardi family and, by extension, the Cuban story correct.
This is not only a good read for anyone interested in the Bacardi story, but also a well written, and detailed chronicle of Cuban political history that goes back well beyond the Batista-Castro-Communist revloution times that are what people generally know about Cuba.
cocktails castro and cubra libra
Customer Rating:
great read super history of a family the country they love politics and our american bungling. gracoius not gossipy more an ode to this past century, revolution, rum a wonderous family their love for their people their country and their product......I read my copy off the coast of Cuba......cheers
A Fine Document
Customer Rating:
Tom Gjelten is a reporter for National Public Radio, with extensive background in foreign affairs. He shows is skill in understanding international relations with this masterful history of Cuba, from colonial days to the present. This is a beautifully documented history, with footnotes, a detailed list of sources, and a comprehensive index.
The history of the Cuban nation is interwoven with the history of the Bacardi family, from the first Catalan immigrant, Facundo Bacardi, to the present diaspora living in exile (except for Gilda and Gustavin, who I happened to know as a child, and who were and are sympathizers of the Castro regime and are still in Cuba). He dutifully relates the sequence of presidents and dictators of the island, with the social and political background of each regime. This may sound dull and perhaps too academic, but the struggle of the family throughout the history of the island gives it a personal and involving dimension.
In the last chapter, Gjelten speaks to the dynamics of the present political situation of Cuba, both from the point of view of the exile community, as well as from the needs of the post-Castro Cuban nation. This makes the book an important resource for anyone interested in being involved, either emotionally or in a practical, active way, in the future Cuba.
Really interesting story
Customer Rating:
this way of knowing the history of a country by knowing the history of a "Saga" or family, is really amazing. It's a ways you can understand a lot, about feelings, emotions and so. I think that the author could know something else about the history of CAtalonia to understand Facundo, Emilio...
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