Slow Train to Guantanamo - Softcover

Millar, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1908129506 ISBN 13: 9781908129505

Publisher: Arcadia Books, 2013

Synopsis

Starting in the ramshackle but romantic capital of Havana, Peter Millar travels with ordinary Cubans, sharing anecdotes, life stories and political opinions to the far end of the island, the Guantanamo naval base and detention camp.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Millar was an award-winning Northern Irish journalist, author and translator, and was a correspondent for Reuters, Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph. He was named Foreign Correspondent of the Year for his reporting on the dying stages of the Cold War, his account of which - 1989: The Berlin Wall, My Part in its Downfall - was named 'best read' by The Economist.

Reviews

As journalist and travel writer Millar puts it, Cuba beyond the Castros is already on the horizon. With that thought in mind, he recently took a train from Havana in the northwest to Guantánamo Bay in the southeast, stopping along the way to stay at bed- and-breakfast-type houses and interacting with ordinary Cuban citizens. The result is this charming, witty, but sometimes sad memoir that offers a portrait of a nation on the cusp of enormous change. The once great rail system, which was the most advanced in Latin America, is now a rusted, decrepit mess plagued by bureaucratic constipation. Millar also points out the grinding poverty faced by many Cubans as well as the class distinctions in a supposedly classless society. But this is no hatchet job on Cuba. Millar points to some of the real achievements under socialism, and he finds Cubans to be warm, welcoming, and not at all shy about expressing the shortcomings of their government. This is an enjoyable, informative glimpse at a Cuba seldom seen by Americans. --Jay Freeman

Edition details

• Publisher: Arcadia Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1908129506
• ISBN 13: 9781908129505
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 262