In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, where a momentous revolution had taken power three years earlier. The stand-off continued through the 50-year rule of Fidel Castro. His death in 2016 spurred questions about the country's future. Meanwhile, politics in Washington have made the relationship between the two nations a subject of debate once more. Now, award-winning historian Ada Ferrer delivers an ambitious and moving chronicle written for a moment that demands a new reckoning with both the island's past and its relationship with the United States.