Cuba, Old and New

Robinson, Albert G. (Albert Gardner), 1855-1932Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 383K words
Chapters: 39

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Cuba, Old and New by Albert G. RobinsonAuthor: Robinson, Albert G. (Albert Gardner), 1855-1932,Language: English, Class: F1751: History of the Americas: West Indies. Cuba, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

This book is a historical reader on Cuba by Albert G. Robinson, held in the Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook library and classified under F1751 (West Indies—Cuba—History) in the Library of Congress scheme. The title "Old and New" signals the author's attempt, within a limited space, to sketch Cuba's overall shape from the colonial period to the modern era, covering both the remnants of the old order and emerging changes. Because it was written early, the book presents Cuba through the eyes of a Western author of that time, and its documentary value is inseparable from its period limitations: readers will find an overview of the island's landscape, social structure and historical development, but should also read the narrative's stance critically. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to obtain, search and cite, making it suitable as supplementary reading among primary English sources on Cuban history, or for understanding how Westerners wrote about the Caribbean in the early twentieth century. It is best read alongside a modern general history rather than treated as a sole introduction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers of English-language sources on Cuban or Caribbean history
History enthusiasts who need public-domain sources for cross-reference and citation
Readers curious about how early Western observers portrayed Cuban society
Self-learners accustomed to reading English public-domain ebooks

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking the latest information on contemporary Cuba
Those who struggle with English and do not wish to use aids
Researchers expecting systematic scholarly notes and references

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and chapter titles first to grasp the logic dividing "old" from "new" before entering the main text.
Keep a modern general history of Cuba at hand for comparison, annotating facts and opinions in both directions.
Use the ebook's search function to organize names, places and events into your own index notes.
Note the author's narrative stance and period vocabulary, and write a brief source critique after reading.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable as an introduction to Cuban history?

Not really on its own. It was written early, its perspective carries period limitations, and it lacks modern scholarly notes. A safer approach is to first build a framework with a contemporary general history, then read this book as supplementary primary English material, using it to observe how an early Western author narrated Cuba's old face and new changes.

What are the practical features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

This edition is a public-domain ebook, freely available and usually offered in plain text and other formats, making full-text search, copying for citation and offline reading convenient. Note that it preserves the original book's text and generally has no modern editor's notes or introduction, so facts should be verified independently when citing.

What should readers scrutinize most closely?

Pay attention to how the author describes colonial history, social classes and local inhabitants, and note period vocabulary and implicit stances. Because the book was written long ago, some data and judgments may be outdated; compare the book's observations with later research and distinguish factual statements from the author's evaluations.

Comments

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About the author

Robinson, Albert G. (Albert Gardner), 1855-1932 Author · American · 1855–1932

Albert G. Robinson (1855–1932) was an American author about whose life little is known in the Chinese-speaking world, and public information on him is limited. His surviving works center mainly on the Caribbean, especially the history and local life of Cuba, as reflected in his representative book Cuba, Old and New. That volume deals with both Cuba's past and its present, interweaving historical narrative with travel observations: it recounts the old order while recording the contemporary scene the author witnessed. Writing of this kind is usually aimed at general readers, in clear, plain prose that values readability rather than rigorous academic scholarship. The library holds only one work by Robinson, so the breadth and depth of his writing cannot be fully assessed. Still, Cuba, Old and New suggests he was among the early twentieth-century American authors who wrote about the Caribbean through travel and history, offering English-language readers an accessible and vivid introduction to Cuba.