This book is dedicated to my children, Nathalie, Julian, and Oliver. You are are my pride, joy, and inspiration.
The most gratifying part of writing this book has been the friendships forged in Cuba along the way. The book would not have been possible without the generosity and support of René González Barrios at the Instituto de Historia de Cuba, Eugenio Suárez Pérez and Elsa Montero Maldonado and their colleagues at the Oficina de Asuntos Históricos del Consejo de Estado, Gladys María Collazo Usallán at the Consejo Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural, Eusebio Leal Spangler, Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana, Eduardo Torres Cueva, Director of the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí, Ambassador Jorge Bolaños, whom I first met in Washington, D.C., and Rafael Hernández of TEMAS. I am hopelessly indebted to you all.
Life and work on my many visits to Havana and Cuba was made both fruitful and fun thanks to Edelso Moret, Rainer Schultz, Giselle Odette, Alberto Magnan, Fidel Rivero Villasol, Carlos Alzugaray, Tomás Diez Acosta, Elvis Raúl Rodríguez, Servando Valdéz, Belkis Quesada, Ángel Jiménez González, Marilú Uralde, Tomás Rodríguez, Pablo Armando, Javier Miyar Ibarra, Manuel de Jesús Céspedes Fernández, Caridad González Fernández, Nilo Julio García, Ricardo Torres, Yelsy Hernández Zamora, José Andrés de León Cruz, Israel Jesús Figueredo, Armando Gómez Carballo, David Camps Rodríguez, Jorge Pérez Soria, Gilberto Morales Pardo, José Angel Cardosa Pullú, Roberto Fonseca, and Carlos Cristóbal Márquez, among many others.
At the Cuban Interests Section (now Embassy) in Washington, D.C., I received timely assistance from Ambassadors Jorge Bolaños and José R. Cabañas Rodríguez, Consul General Llanio González Pérez, First Secretary Warnel Lores Mora, and Second Secretary Saylín Martínez Tarrío. In Mexico City, Enma Castro, Antonio del Conde, and Sergio Silva Castañeda were generous with time and information. In Miami, I benefited from conversations with Max Lesnik, Alfredo Duran, Salvador Lew, Mitchell Kaplan, Uva de Aragón, Carol Rosenberg, Jaime Suchlicki, Gustavo Godoy, Osvaldo Soto, and Juanita Castro. In Washington, Emilio Cueto shared his infectious enthusiasm for literally every single thing Cuban.
Young Castro was Richard Fox’s idea. This is my third book written with Richard’s help and I can’t imagine what I would ever do without him. Jim Kloppenberg provided encouragement, sage advice, and close readings along the way. Sayres Rudy is always there at the ready and always understands better than I do what my books are about.
At Harvard, I continue to benefit from the intellectual stimulation and sustenance of the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, my home, where Richard Tuck, Jim Kloppenberg, and now Eric Beerhbohm lead (or have led) a group of teachers and scholars as lively and talented as I could ever imagine being a part of. Sincere thanks to Peter Marsden, Claudine Gay, and Laura Fisher for facilitating and extending my presence there. Jorge Domínguez, Alejandro de la Fuentes, and my colleagues in the Cuban Studies Program at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies provided an audience and criticism for the early stages of this work on several different occasions. I am grateful for the hard work and support of the David Rockefeller Center staff, especially June Erlick, Cary Aileen García Yero, Alina Salgado, Edwin Ortiz, and Monica Tesoriero.
This book was supported by research and writing grants from the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies and the National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholars Program. Professor Joaquim-Francisco Coelho, Roger Lane, and Jim Kloppenberg read early drafts of the manuscript cover to cover. Mario Carretero read a chapter. Nelson Valdes made some valuable corrections. My old book group—Jane Kamesky, Michael Willrich, Dan Sharfstein, Seth Rockman, Steve Biel, and Conevery Valencius—was just gentle enough with a rough sample of the book that I did not throw it in the trash. Miriam Psychas and Edelso Moret provided expert and timely research assistance. Max Lesnick, Dick Cluster, and Ángel Jiménez González read the penultimate draft of the manuscript, redeeming it from a number of errors and infelicities.
For indulging, sometimes encouraging my obsession with Castro in various forms, honorable mention goes to Jeffrey and Jennifer DeLaurentis, Tom Palaia, Rudy Bednar, Daragh Grant, Jack Coleman, Doris Casap, Paul Farmer, Ophelia Dahl, Jorge Pérez Ávila, Jim Sloman, Maria Zuckerman, Thomas LeBien, Bob Mnookin, Dale Mnookin, Julie Dunfey, Anthony DePalma, Tom Miller, Jim Rasenberger, Bruce Schulman, Jim Johnson, Kate Anable, Katelyn Greene, Michael Lavigne, Lisa White, Scott Tromanhauser, Jennifer Shaw, Ann Stack, Lynn Shirey, Suzanna Lansing, Janet Moore, and Karen Lee Wald.
Wendy Strothman, my agent, remained steadfast throughout early incarnations of this project and countless delays. Wendy’s wisdom and intuition are rivaled only by her perspective and good cheer, as those lucky to get to work with her know. At Simon & Schuster, Priscilla Painton is patient, persistent, and exacting. As a writer herself, Priscilla knew precisely where and how to needle to make the book accessible to a public audience. Megan Hogan has an eagle eye of her own and was always courteous with her demands and quick with answers to my questions. Philip Metcalf proves that at Simon & Schuster, at least, copyediting is not a lost art. His feat here was heroic. Any remaining errors are my responsibility alone.
Finally, boundless thanks to my wife, Anne, whose love and friendship are essential to this and all my work (and play).