My recommended reading list for Cuba, for visitors and armchair travellers. I have also included a short list of films that I have enjoyed. I have linked to Good Reads for a quick review of each book.

Note: Purchase or download before you travel. Most of these titles should be available in second-hand bookshops. 

There is one good English Language bookshop in Havana, Cuba Libro, owned by an American permanent resident. It’s located on the corner of Calle 24 and Calle 19 Vedado. 

One of my favourite novels is Cuba and The Night by Pico Iyer. A haunting and evocative love story set in Havana during the Special Period. My new favourite novel is The Man Who Loved Dogs by Cuban writer Leonardo Pardura, the story of Leon Trotsky in exile, his assassin and a Cuban writer.

I loved the travellers’ tale Slow Train to Guantanamo by Peter Millar and on my bedside table is The Land of Miracles: A Journey through Modern Cuba by Stephen Smith. Another that comes highly recommended is by Irish travel writer Dervla Murphy The Island that Dared: Journeys in Cuba.

The best book to understand the Cuban US relationship is Cuba Confidential: The Extraordinary Tragedy of Cuba, its Revolution and its Exiles by Ann Louise Bardach

The more recent and Purlizer Prize winning Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer might be even better, also on my bedside table.

For a broader perspective of Cuban history, politics and culture Cuba: What everyone needs to know by Julia Sweig, now in a 2^nd edition. This is an easy read, set out in short informative chapters, written by an expert on Cuba and Latin America.

Best travel guide could be Lonely Planet Cuba or Rough Guide Cuba or 100 Places in Cuba Every Woman Should Go by Connor Gorry (owner of bookshop mentioned above).

A Cuban classic Cecilia Valdes by Cirilio Villaerde was originally published in 1839. When in Old Havana you can find the statue of Cecila in Calle Compostela in front of the Church Santo Angel Custodio.

Best biography Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas, also a great film starring Javier Bardem or another by Carlos Acosta No Way Home, the famous Cuban ballet dancer now based in the UK but still collaborating with the Cuban Ballet. 

I highly recommend exiled Cuban writer Zoe Valdes Dear First Love, a novel about growing up in 1970’s Cuba but she has written others about life in Havana after the revolution.

The classic novel is Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene but you could also pick a Hemingway classic Old Man and The Sea or  To Have and Have Not.

Political Biography is a choice between either Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life or My Life by Fidel Castro with Ignacio Ramonet. The Motor Cycle Diaries offers great background on Che and of course this has been made into a beautiful film

Best history either Cuba: A New History by Richard Gott or the much larger tome Cuba: A history by Hugh Thomas

We Are Cuba: How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post Soviet World by Helen Yaffe is a study of the revolution and how it has survived the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Cuba Diaries: An American Housewife in Havana by Isadora Tattlin (a pseudonym) sheds light on how the political class lived post revolution in the 1990’s.

For an introduction to Cuban contemporary music Waking up in Cuba by Stephen Foehr.

An infamous critic of Cuban socialism blogger Yoani Sanchez :  Havana Real  A Womans Fight to Tell the Truth About Cuba Today. offers insight into life for everyday Cubans.

Another fiction favourite is Christina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban, delightful Cuban magical realism.

Best Cuban crime fiction includes The Mario Conde Mysteries Havana Quartet (also a Netflix TV series see below) Havana Blue, Havana Red, Havana Gold, Havana Black,  and  Adios Hemingway all by Leonardo Padura Fuentes.

I would also recommend Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smith (Gorky Park author) set during the Soviet period. 

My best second- hand purchase was Cuba, With Pen and Pencil by Samuel Hazard. It is an illustrated travel diary published originally in 1870. Signal Books reprinted it in 2007.

For another opinion of what to read take a look at this article by Anthony de Palma, the author of The Cubans: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times which is an enlightening study of Cuban’s navigating life post revolution.

Understanding the Complexities of Cuba: A Reading List

Some good films to watch or download before you travel

Fresa y Chocolate (Strawberries and Chocolate) 1994 A film about tolerance and friendship in post revolutionary Havana.

Lucia 1968 The Story of 3 Women Called Lucia, set in 1895, 1932 and early 1960’s

Havana Blues Spanish Cuban collaboration about 2 young Cuban blues musicians.

Conducta (Behaviour)  Follows an all-but-orphaned boy and the elderly teacher who becomes his surrogate grandmother. A film that was very popular in Cuba.

Wasp Network with Penelope Cruz and Ana de Armas (Netflix) A true story about Cuban spies in Miami.

Buena Vista Social Club by Wim Wenders with Ry Cooder This documentary focuses on the relationship between American music star Ry Cooder and a veteran group of Cuban musicians. Fabulous soundtrack.

The Waiting List (Lista de Espera) Charming comedy of passengers stranded at a rundown rural bus stop.

Juan of the Dead 1911 Hilarious zombie film set in post revolution Cuba.

Before Night Falls Biographical drama based on the autobiography of Reinaldo Arenas (mentioned above),

The Godfather Part 2 Highlights the mafia’s connection to Havana in 1950’s.

TV series Four Seasons in Havana (Cuatro Estaciones en La Habana) Mario Conde detective series. (Netflix) A jaded detective investigating dark and deadly crimes in Havana.