Willis Fletcher Johnson's fifth volume on Cuban history isn't about distant, dusty events. He was a journalist and historian writing as the story unfolded, and it shows. This book covers the pivotal period from the late 1880s through the end of the War of Independence in 1898. Johnson doesn't just list dates and battles. He puts you in the room with the key players—the exiled poet-revolutionary José Martí, the military leaders like Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo, and the Spanish officials desperately trying to hold onto their last major colony in the Americas.

The Story

The book follows Cuba's long, painful push for freedom. It starts with the growing frustration under Spanish rule, the failed previous wars, and the intellectual movement building abroad. Then, it plunges into the 1895 uprising. You get the guerrilla campaigns in the countryside, the political wrangling in New York and Key West, and the Spanish government's increasingly harsh response. Johnson details major battles, but also the everyday realities of war. The narrative builds steadily toward its explosive climax: the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor and the sudden entry of the United States into the conflict. The story ends not with a simple victory parade, but with Cuba in a strange limbo—free from Spain, but now under American military occupation. The future is totally uncertain.

Why You Should Read It

What makes this book special is its perspective. Johnson had access to sources and participants that later historians didn't. His writing has an immediacy that later summaries lack. You feel the desperation of the Cuban rebels, the stubbornness of the Spanish crown, and the complicated motives of the Americans watching from the sidelines. He doesn't paint heroes and villains in simple strokes. You see Martí's brilliant idealism alongside his practical struggles, and the brutal tactics on both sides of the war. Reading this volume helps you understand that Cuba's 20th-century path wasn't an accident. It was shaped in the crucible of this war and the messy, compromised independence that followed.

Final Verdict

This is perfect for anyone who loves narrative history that reads like a political thriller. It's for the reader who enjoyed Killing Lincoln or The Devil in the White City and wants to apply that same energy to a crucial moment in Caribbean history. It's also essential for anyone trying to grasp the deep roots of U.S.-Cuba relations. Be warned: it's a dense, detailed volume, not a breezy overview. But if you're willing to dive in, Johnson serves as a fantastic guide to the birth pangs of a nation. You'll finish it with a much richer, more complicated picture of Cuba than you started with.