good reading: Havana Nocturne, A Traveller's History of the Caribbean and For Your Eyes Only.

I like to read...especially on vacation. I also love to know a little (not everything, but a little) about the place I am headed to before I get there. These are three terrific books I am reading (or have recently read) which I think someone like-minded might enjoy:

Havana Nocturne, TJ English

I started to read this book while I was vacationing in Cuba and finished it when I returned home. For non-fiction, it is an easy and desciptive read. At 334 pages it is not short, but it is jam-packed with all the juicy details on what made Havana the glamorous and dangerous city it once was. The back of the jacket descibes the book as follows:

To underworld kingpins Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Cuba was the greatest hope for the future of American organized crime in the post-Prohibition years. In the 1950's, the Mob - with the corrupt, repressive government of brutal Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in its pocket - owned Havana's biggest luxury hotels and casinos, launching an unprecedented tourism boom complete with the most lavish entertainment, top-drawer celebrities, gorgeous women, and gambling galore. But Mob dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and others who would lead an uprising of the country's disenfranchised against Batista's hated governement and its foreign partners - an epic cultural battle that best-selling author T.J. English captures here in all its sexy, decadent, ugly glory.

Click HERE to read the first 8 pages at amazon.com...

A Traveller's History of the Caribbbean, James Ferguson

I started this book right before I recently left for St. Martin. It was a nice complement to Havana Nocturne as it gives a very in-depth, historical look at the Caribbean. About to visit the islands of the Caribbean for the 7th time, I felt I was well overdue for learning a little more about the culture and history of the places and people there. This book covers off everything - starting with Columbus and the conquistadors, piracy, the slave trade - right up to the Cold War and today. I will say that this book is long (337 pages) and somewhat challenging but is an unbiased and very thorough read. The back of the jacket descibes the book as follows:

A consise and authoritative hictory of the entire reagion covering the larger nations of the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago as well as the smaller islands of the Eastern Caribbean and the French, British and Dutch territories.
The Caribbean, a region of spectacular natural beauty, has a turbulent history of colonialism, slavery, and resistance in which people from all continents have played their part. Described by Columbus as an earthly paradise, the Caribbean has long enticed foreigners with its promise of wealth. From the gold-seeking exploits of the Spanish conquistadors to modern-day tourist cruises, the islands have exerted a fascination on generations of visitors.
Tracing the islands' path from slavery to revolution and independence, A Traveler's History of the Caribbean looks at the history of countries as different as Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti, explaining their diversity and their common experiences. It reveals a region in which a tumultuous past has created a culturally vibrant and intriguing present.

Click HERE to read the first 6 pages at amazon.com

For Your Eyes Only, Ben Macintyre

This book brings together a few of the things I'm very interested in: James Bond, Jamaica and espionage. It is actually a biograpy of Ian Fleming (the creator of James Bond) and uses his incredible story to illustrate the inspiration for 007. The book is full of colour photos and images from his history and is an easy, juicy and glamorous read. The hardcover - though smallish in size - makes for a very cool, coffee table book. I am dying to visit Jamaica (it's on my 2010 list) and hope to see Ian Fleming's home there - Goldeneye - the place where he wrote his novels which is now a very exclusive, luxury boutique hotel. Here are some further details about this beautiful book:

A riveting look into the world of James Bond and his creator, published on the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth. In For Your Eyes Only, Ben Macintyre reveals where the world of Ian Fleming ends and the world of James Bond begins. Macintyre looks at the actual people on whom the writer based his fictional creations—friends, colleagues, lovers, and, of course, the notorious villains. Exploring the tradition of spy fiction past and present, with specific attention to the Cold War, Macintyre explains how Bond was based on the realities—and fantasies—of Fleming’s life as a wartime spymaster and peacetime bon vivant.
Stylishly illustrated, For Your Eyes Only features a collector’s dream of gadgets, costumes, props, and storyboards from the films—Daniel Craig’s bloodstained shirt from Casino Royale, the Aston Martin DB5, complete with weaponry—as well as memorabilia from Fleming’s personal archive: his smoking jacket, the manuscript for Casino Royale, his golden typewriter, his guns, and much more.