Jules Benjamin argues convincingly that modern conflicts between Cuba and the United States stem from a long history of U.S. hegemony and Cuban resistance. He shows what difficulties the smaller country encountered because of U.S. efforts first to make it part of an "empire of liberty" and later to dominate it by economic methods, and he analyzes the kind of misreading of ardent nationalism that continues to plague U.S. policymaking. "An original and incisive study on the nature of hegemony, this book traces the history of relations between the United States and Cuba from 1898 to 1961, emphasizing the tension between U.S. efforts to 'Americanize' and modernize the island and Cuban resentment of U.S. influence and interference." "Benjamin has produced a superb study in the genre of American domination of a Caribbean nation."---Jack Lane, The Journal of American History "Benjamin does a fine job of explaining how Cuba and the United States came to their parting of the ways."---Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, Pacific Historical Review
