Description: The Knopf Guide to Cuba, a close-by but long forbidden destination now open to Americans, takes the reader to a country with a turbulent and colorful history -- from its discovery by the Spanish in the 15th century to the Revolution or 1953-67 to the politics of the 90s. The 2,000 color illustrations point up the dramatically varied terrain from savanna to rainforest, the rich wildlife -- avian or underwater -- as well as such exotica as the popular cults that originated in Africa. The Latin music and dance, and the spectacular architecture whether religious or colonial are all aspects of the partly European, partly Cuban culture that have so fascinated travellers. Such local customs as carnival, cuisine, celebrated exports like rum and cigars are explored.

Eight detailed intineraries take the reader all around Havana from Old Havana and its two showpiece squares, Plaza de Annas and Plaze de la Catedral to the Partagas cigar and tobacco factory to Plaza Vieja where wealthy merchants once lived; from there to the west of the island -- the province of Pinar del Rio, the verdant tobacco heartland, with rounded limestone mountains and dramatic scenery; to the north where fashionable Varadero resembles Miami Beach and Cardenas is home to the celebrated Museo de Oscar Maria de Rojas devoted to Cuban coins, weapons, shells, butterflies and pre-Columbian art; to the center or Cuba where one can visit the site of the Bay of Pigs; or the East to Santiago, Cuba's second largest and most exotic city at the foot of the Sierra Maestra mountains.

Portable, practical and lavishly illustrated, the guide also includes information on getting around Cuba, finding the best restaurants, nightlife, andcultural spots. And as always, there is a section on the region as seen by artists and writers.

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