The history of Cuba lends itself to monumental and epic tellings, and its relationship with the United States is complicated. As a Cuban-American, Ada Ferrer has a unique perspective on this sometimes tense history, and in CUBA: AN AMERICAN HISTORY, she gives us a front-row seat as we witness the evolution of the modern nation, with its dramatic record of conquest and colonization, of slavery and freedom, of independence and revolutions made and unmade.