Havana Before Castro

Havana was America's Sin City before there was Sin City--home to nightclubs, casinos, brothels, and bars (this is where the daiquiri and mojito were invented). Americans flocked to this tropical Vegas during the 1920s to 1950s, turning it from a Prohibition-era playground into a glittering mob hangout--until it all came tumbling down in Castro's revolution.

 

Mixing period ephemera with amazing "then" and "now" photographs, author and architectural historian Peter Moruzzi recreates the Havana of the past, taking the reader on a journey from backstreet bordellos to soaring mid-century modern resorts, and everywhere in between. It's an armchair vacation you won't soon forget!  (softcover, 256 pgs. / color, b&w)