Havana Before Castro by Peter Moruzzi

During the 56 years of the Cuban Republic, the island was cursed with a succession of presidents of varying degrees of competence and corruption, from the hapless Tomas Estrada Palma to the venal Fulgencio Batista. In addition, American dominance of Cuba’s economy and its support of the country’s dictators served to stoke resentment among the rural poor and working classes. But, in the 1950s, it was President Batista’s blatant mockery of the democratic process, his close ties to American gambling interests, his transparent corruption, and his brutal suppression of dissent that led to the convulsive transformation of Castro’s revolution.