Books About Real Life in Cuba

The face of modern-day Cuba is in many respects still frozen in the 1950s, with its classic American cars, horse-drawn carriages, and colonial Spanish architecture. In a country where taxi drivers earn more than doctors, understanding Cuba is a compelling but never-ending task. In the early 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Cuba was plunged into crisis. Having been subsidized by the Soviet Union to the tune of $3 million a day, the country's economy entered freefall. The ban on the US dollar was lifted, the floodgates of tourism opened and the salaries of Cubans in contact with foreigners went into orbit. Sensual, sexual, soulful, and rhythmic, Cuban music - from its ethnic roots to the international successes of Gloria Estefan and the Grammy Award-winning Buena Vista Social Club - has been the Cuban people's means of expression under one of the world's last communist regimes. Price R220 for both books. Can be couriered to any place in South Africa at an additional cost