The Rough Guide to Cuba

Rough Guides, 2010. — 587 p.There can be no greater testament to the beguiling magnetism of Cuba than the triumph of its culture over its politics. Few countries are as closely associated with their political system as this communist stronghold, and few provoke such intense political feelings and allegiances, yet the world is as taken with the Buena Vista Social Club as it is with Fidel Castro. And it’s not just the music. The clichéd images of guitar-strumming troubadours, and of 1950s Chevrolets rolling past crumbling colonial buildings, identify the country in an instant, yet while they may attract many visitors, Cuba also captures the imagination for a host of less familiar reasons too. World-class ballerinas and baseball players perform for no more than an average state wage; diverse Art Deco architecture rivals that of New York and Los Angeles; top-class restaurants are run from residential living rooms; striking Santería worshippers dress in white from head to foot; while life is lived out in the open, unselfconsciously and on view.