As the author of Cuban Politics explicitly defines her book, “My goal has been . . . to provide a short but reasonably comprehensive introduction to the politics of Cuba” (p. 215). Rhoda Rabkin accomplishes that goal by synthesizing the literature on modern Cuba, dividing it into thematic chapters that cover the role of Fidel Castro, the organization of the government, economic policy, the effects of changes in the socialist bloc, and foreign policy. The best chapters are “Institutions and Policy, 1970–1986” and “The Rectified Revolution: Continuing Political Tension.” The author shows an impressive command both of detail and of the present scholarship on Cuba. For these purposes, the book fills a scholarly gap.

It does have weaknesses, however. The major one is the lack of a personal perspective for the purpose of analysis. The author deliberately sets out to avoid the polemical and ideological biases of much of the literature on Cuba, and she generally succeeds. But from the array of conflicting views no unifying theme emerges. Although Rabkin has done research in Cuba, little of it appears in the text with the stamp of her evaluation. Therefore what appears is not new, but review. Furthermore, the editing out of many adjectives and unattributed generalizations would have improved the writing. For example, the phrases “some political scientists . . . ,” “most students of Cuban politics agree . . . ,” “some scholars, however . . . “some scholars believe,” all appear in just two pages (pp. 72-73).

Cuban Politics is a massive review of the literature. Its greatest virtue is that it is among the first to analyze the effect of the changes in Eastern Europe on the present and future of the Castro regime.