Havana: Portrait of a City

Famous for cigars, gambling and Fidel Castro, Cuba is fast becoming a popular travel destination. Its capital, Havana, is known for its 18th-century architecture. Beginning with Columbus' first landing in Cuba in 1493, this book goes on to detail the founding of the city of Havana in 1519, its rise as a treasure house for the Spanish Empire, to its heyday as a playground for the rich. Illustrated with photographs of the restored city and contemporary engravings of people, customs and events, this book features a prologue by the Historian of the City of Havana and a foreword by the Duke of Seville, whose ancestors were colonial governors of the city.