Before the Revolution reveals the forgotten century of exchange between Cuba and the U.S. through the businesses, ballfields, music, science, and family memories that connected two neighboring cultures. Why was this an important book for you to write?

During the last 67 years, the history of the Republic of Cuba’s era of progress has never been taught in US and Cuban classrooms. The Cuban regime does not want to acknowledge the 100 years of friendship with the United States—a country and people they refer to as Imperialist. It is not taught in the United States either. The story of a troublesome communist island which once hosted Soviet missiles aimed at the US is not part of the standard American history curriculum, either. I sought to eliminate this vacuum of knowledge by spending a year researching 100 years of documents between Cuba and the United States stored within the US Library of Congress and then writing a book about it.

Understanding our forefathers’ struggles, successes, and failures can help move history from lifeless texts onto richer human perspectives. I seek to provide the people of both nations with an enlightenment capable of advancing a dialogue that can reset relationships between nations.

Of all the places you researched, which most changed your understanding of pre-revolutionary Cuba?

The most unexpected history lesson I discovered during my year-long research in the US Library of Congress was Thomas Jefferson’s role in the birth of the sovereign and independent Republic of Cuba.

In 1823, US Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams sent a letter to Thomas Jefferson in which he wrote about Cuba’s preparation for a War of Independence from Spain. He writes that the war would lead to a destabilization of Cuba and a weakened Spanish army. This, he worried, might create an opportunity for England to take over the island of Cuba and continue north through Spanish-controlled Florida—forcing the United States to eventually have to fight a second War of Independence with England. Adams asked Jefferson’s support in annexing Cuba.

Thomas Jefferson responded with his own letter in which he disagreed with the American annexation of the island. People of a small island brave enough to fight the greatest colonial power of its time, he mussed, would make them fiercely independent people that could never be governed. The US would be better off partnering with a nascent Cuba than attempting to control those who won’t be controlled. Jefferson’s letter would become US policy towards Cuba during the next 137 years.

Can it be argued that as a result of his letter, Thomas Jefferson was in fact the father of two countries?

Your own childhood memories and family history gradually become part of the larger story. How did you decide where to place yourself in the book and where to step back?​

I decided that my role in the book would be best in cameo appearances in order to introduce human context to the storytelling of a history book. Born in 1951, I was a child witness to the final years of the US and Cuba’s era of friendship and progress. I am in fact a part of the story.

Baseball is one of the book’s most personal and lively threads. What do you think the history of Cuban and American players reveals that conventional diplomatic history misses?​

Baseball is more than just a game, it is about family moments, memories made, allegiances formed, loyalty, and life lessons learned. It bonds families with friends and strangers. Heals nations and opens doorways to understanding and acceptance. As such, baseball in Cuba was a part of the Cuban family conscience, an opportunity for American black players to play with Cubans and white American Major Leaguers in a tropical climate, and a bridge to future integrated Major League Baseball teams.

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