Cuba — books & literature

The story of Cuba

Before 1492, Cuba was home to Taíno, Ciboney, and Guanajatabey peoples living in farming and fishing communities. Christopher Columbus landed on the island on 28 October 1492, and Spanish colonization began in earnest in 1511 when Diego Velázquez founded Baracoa, Cuba's first town. Sugar and tobacco plantations, worked by enslaved Africans brought from the 1520s onward, built the colony's wealth and shaped its culture. Cuban resistance to Spanish rule grew through the Ten Years' War (1868), started by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, and the final independence war launched in 1895 by poet and revolutionary José Martí. The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended Spanish rule, and Cuba became a formal republic in 1902, though under lingering US influence. Decades of political upheaval culminated in the 1959 Cuban Revolution, when Fidel Castro's guerrilla movement overthrew Fulgencio Batista and installed a socialist government that endures today. Since then Cuba has forged a distinctive path defined by resilience, a global reputation in music and medicine, and a slow, ongoing opening to the world.

Timeline — key moments

1. 1492

   Christopher Columbus lands on Cuba (28 October), encountering Taíno, Ciboney, and Guanajatabey peoples.

2. 1511

   Diego Velázquez founds Baracoa, the first Spanish settlement in Cuba.

3. circa 1520s

   Enslaved Africans are first brought to Cuba to work tobacco and, later, sugar plantations.

4. 1868

   Carlos Manuel de Céspedes declares independence, starting the Ten Years’ War.

5. 1895

   José Martí launches the final Cuban War of Independence from exile.

6. 1898

   The USS Maine explodes in Havana harbor, drawing the US into the Spanish-American War; Spain cedes Cuba.

7. 1902

   The Republic of Cuba is formally established (20 May).

8. 1959

   Fidel Castro’s revolutionary forces overthrow Fulgencio Batista (1 January), starting the socialist era.

9. 1962

   The Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink of nuclear war.

10. 2018

    Miguel Díaz-Canel becomes president, the first Cuban leader since 1959 outside the Castro family.

Top 10 things to know about Cuba

1. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean by land area.
2. Havana is the capital, largest city, and cultural heart of the country.
3. Old Havana (Habana Vieja) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its colonial architecture.
4. Cuban cigars, especially from the Vuelta Abajo region of Pinar del Río, are considered among the world’s finest.
5. A 1961 nationwide literacy campaign pushed Cuba’s literacy rate above 96% in about a year.
6. Cuba has been a one-party socialist state led by the Communist Party since 1965.
7. Baseball, introduced in the 19th century, is the country’s most popular sport.
8. Decades of a US trade embargo left many 1950s American cars still running on Cuban roads.
9. Cuban music genres such as son, mambo, rumba, and cha-cha-cha shaped Latin music worldwide.
10. Spanish is the official language, spoken with a distinctive Cuban accent and vocabulary.

Famous people from Cuba

Say it in Cuba's language

Did you know?

• ★Decades of restrictions on private car imports mean Cuba still has one of the world’s largest fleets of running 1950s American cars.
• ★Cuba’s 1961 literacy campaign sent young volunteers into the countryside, raising national literacy from around 60-76% to over 96% in roughly a year.
• ★A large share of Cubans practice some form of Santería, a religion that blends Yoruba orisha worship with Catholic saints.

Cuba culture

• Santería, born from enslaved Yoruba Africans disguising their orishas as Catholic saints, remains widely practiced across the island.
• Cuban music forms , son cubano, rumba, mambo, danzón, and cha-cha-cha , grew from a fusion of Spanish and African rhythms and reshaped global Latin music.
• Baseball is a national obsession, and Cuba has long been a powerhouse in international competition.
• Classic dishes like ropa vieja, arroz con pollo, tostones, and café Cubano reflect a cuisine blending Spanish, African, and Caribbean influences.

Why read Cuba's books

From José Martí's revolutionary verse to Alejo Carpentier's magical realism, Cuban literature has long turned political upheaval and cultural fusion into some of Latin America's most vivid writing. These shelves are a way into that story.