jonathan Curry-machado
“Living between hurricanes has conditioned our lives; it has modified our geographies and spurred our imagination.”
(Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel)
This is a book about the elements – hurricanes and rain, the sea and the earth. About a fishing port on the north coast of Cuba which has seen better days: Caibarién, where Hurricane Irma – one of the most powerful ever to sweep the Caribbean – made landfall on 9th September 2017. About the effects of climate across the centuries in a Caribbean island sucked into global markets for its commodity crops – tobacco, coffee and above all, sugar. How sugar changed the landscape, through deforestation and soil exhaustion. About the collapse of sugar and the encroachment of a new commodity market – tourism. About the growing threat from climate change, and the move towards reforestation, ecotourism and sustainable farming.
This book is based on the film of the same name (2019, dir. Michael Chanan, www.livingbetweenhurricanes.org), and tells the stories through the voices of those who were interviewed.
Jonathan Curry-Machado
Jonathan Curry-Machado cofounded the Commodities of Empire British Academy Research Project in 2007, and continues as its editor and audio-visual coordinator. He is also a founder member of the Commodity Frontiers Initiative, and Associate Fellow at the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (School of Advanced Study, University of London). He lived for several years in Cuba, where he was involved in historical research, art curation, and community culture.
ISBN 978-1-914278-01-3. 270 pages, with 142 black & white images. English.
£19.95 / €24.95 / $29.95
Spanish edition (Cuba: Vivir entre ciclones), ISBN 978-1-914278-03-7
£19.95 / €24.95 / $29.95
“Enjoyable and flowing… I like the tone achieved from the speakers: conscientious, critical and with threads of nostalgia… open to the possibilities for the future… Cuba has always lived between hurricanes, of different kinds. One can have quite varied debates after watching the film.” (Concha Mateos, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid)
“A small enclave in the Caribbean can become a multifaceted crystal in which to observe the globalised past and present, the complex dynamics that interconnect human actions and nature.” (María Luisa Ortega, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
“Tells the urgent story of the effects of climate change on the island by examining the links between the ecology, economic development, and social and political history.” (Trish Meehan, Cuba Sí)
