A History That Dare Not Be Told: Political Culture and the Making of Revolutionary Cuba, 1946–1958
This introductory chapter briefly illustrates Cuba's underground revolutionary culture and the challenges it faced during Fulgencio Batista's regime. It argues that the “New Cuba” that allegedly emerged in January 1959 did not rise from the ground up. The seeds of revolutionary Cuba were not just planted in the years before, they had sprouted and flourished. This Cuba began to flourish in the late 1940s and came to fruition in the last months of 1958 when Cubans consumed, constructed, and helped craft the image of a generous, accountable, morally pure, and messianic revolutionary state that Fidel Castro was committed to lead. In addition to this, the chapter also delves into the political culture of 1940s Cuba.