The historical experience of Cuba is unique in the western hemisphere, and indeed in the world, for only Cuba underwent transformation from being a colony of Spain to being a neocolonial U.S. protectorate, then an independent republic, and finally a socialist country, all within less than a century. This course will neither praise or condemn Cuban socialism or U.S. imperialism, but instead help students appreciate and understand the complexities of the historical dynamics that gave rise to the current contours of the Cuban Revolution.