Students of things Cuban have long been blessed with an abundance of bibliographical aids. Indeed, the Cuban literary tradition is rich with bibliography, and some of Cuba’s most prominent men of letters were also eminent bibliographers. Jorge LeRoy y Cassá, Fermín Peraza-Sarausa, and Carlos M. Trelles y Govín, to cite only three, were indefatigable bibliographers. Bibliography was a scholarly pastime long before the revolution. Since the revolution it has become a scholarly passion, both in and out of Cuba.
The bibliography compiled by Ronald Chilcote is the most recent entry into this enormous and constantly expanding field. It is a vast undertaking—in fact, it is quite overwhelming. Numbers alone serve to set its proportions in relief: a volumes, 10 parts, 68 chapters, 1,387 pages, and nearly 20,000 separate entries citing books, articles, and newspapers in about a dozen languages from nearly 50 countries. Its dimensions are even more remarkable when one considers that it deals principally with the 25 years after the attack on Moneada in 1953.
The topics range far and wide. The ten general parts include library resources, general works, society, culture, social services, politics, economics, foreign relations, the revolution (1953-78), and revolutionary leadership (principally Fidel Castro and Che Guevara). Each chapter is introduced and concluded with cross-referenced information. An annotated list of Cuban newspapers and periodicals in the form of an appendix is, additionally, a useful reference section.
The focus of the bibliography is almost entirely the same 25-year period in which the materials were published. Thus, while the history section contains scattered references to general surveys and specialized works dealing with the pre-1953 period, the majority of the citations cover the period 1953-78. It would have been perhaps a bit sounder organizationally to have eliminated altogether the pre-1953 references.
Some omissions are conspicuous. The inclusion of African sources, for example, particularly in the section dealing with Cuban foreign relations with Africa, would have added an important perspective on Cuban activities there. Missing, too, is a subject index. How useful indeed one would have been, particularly in using a work of this magnitude. It is reasonable to suppose, however, that a subject index was not practical, precisely because of the magnitude of the bibliography. It would have undoubtedly necessitated the addition of one more volume, and presumably added $150 to the cost of the set.
These oversights and omissions should not in the slightest diminish the importance of this work. It is a prodigious effort. It is a powerful testimony to the perseverance and fortitude of Chilcote and his collaborator, Sheryl Lutjens. Research has been made a bit more manageable as a result, and all who study Cuba will for years be in their debt.
