Includes bibliographical references and index.

The colonial years -- The land and the people -- Enter the Spaniards -- The emerging colony -- The foreign challenge -- The rise of king sugar -- Toward independence -- The golden century -- The "ever-faithful" colony rebels -- The Platt Amendment republic -- The unfinished revolution -- The failure of reformism -- Background to revolution -- Castro's revolution -- The decade of institutionalization -- The revolution continues : the eighties and the nineties -- Years of crisis -- Preparing for a succession -- Beyond Castro.