{"product_id":"2940015619263","title":"Our War With Spain For Cuba's Freedon","description":"PREFACE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInformation concerning the island of Cuba has been of an\u003cbr\u003eexceedingly unsatisfactory character until the search-light of\u003cbr\u003eAmerican inquiry was thrown upon it from the beginning of the war\u003cbr\u003efor Cuban liberty early in 1895. Although our next-door neighbor\u003cbr\u003eto the south, with a perfect winter climate and a host of\u003cbr\u003einteresting and picturesque attractions for travelers, tourists\u003cbr\u003ehad been comparatively few, measured by the numbers that might\u003cbr\u003ehave been expected. All of the reasons for this were those which\u003cbr\u003enaturally followed the characteristic Spanish rule of the island.\u003cbr\u003ePublicity was not welcomed, inquiry was not welcomed, travelers\u003cbr\u003ewere not welcomed. The cities and the accommodations they offered\u003cbr\u003ewere in many ways far behind those of like age and size in the\u003cbr\u003eother countries of the globe. Railway construction and the making\u003cbr\u003eof highways had lagged disgracefully, because the exorbitant taxes\u003cbr\u003ecollected were looted by the officers of the government as their\u003cbr\u003eown spoils. No other country so near to the highways of ocean\u003cbr\u003ecommerce and so accessible from the United States was so little\u003cbr\u003eknown.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA few travelers had journeyed to Cuba and had written books\u003cbr\u003edescriptive of their experiences, which were read with interest by\u003cbr\u003ethose who had access to them. But these books were usually simply\u003cbr\u003edescriptive of the people, the manner of life, the scenery, and\u003cbr\u003ethe things of surface interest. It is proverbial that Spanish rule\u003cbr\u003econceals the resources of a country instead of exploiting them.\u003cbr\u003eThe person of inquiring mind had no way in Cuba to obtain prompt\u003cbr\u003einformation concerning the material facts of the island's wealth\u003cbr\u003eof resource, because the Spanish authorities themselves knew\u003cbr\u003enothing about it. Spanish statistics are notoriously unreliable\u003cbr\u003eand incomplete. No census of Cuba worthy the name ever has been\u003cbr\u003etaken, and there are few schools and few sources of accurate\u003cbr\u003einformation. With all this handicap it was a foregone conclusion\u003cbr\u003ethat the casual traveler should confine himself to the things that\u003cbr\u003ewere visible and that were near to the usual paths of travelers.\u003cbr\u003eSo until the beginning of the Cuban war for liberty no books could\u003cbr\u003ebe obtained which told the things which one really cares to know.\u003cbr\u003ePicturesque descriptions there were, more than one, of\u003cbr\u003econsiderable interest, but the information was scattered.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDemand always creates supply, even if material is scant. When the\u003cbr\u003ewar began, the people of the United States wanted to know\u003cbr\u003esomething of the people who were striving for their freedom, of\u003cbr\u003etheir characteristics, their conditions and their personality.\u003cbr\u003eMoreover, it was an immediate necessity to know the geography of\u003cbr\u003eCuba, its history, its natural conditions, its material resources,\u003cbr\u003eand a host of things that unite to make a comprehensive knowledge\u003cbr\u003eof any country. There were men who knew Cuba from years of\u003cbr\u003eresidence there in industrial and commercial enterprises. They\u003cbr\u003ewere drawn upon for their knowledge. Then the newspapers of the\u003cbr\u003eUnited States gave another demonstration of their unvarying\u003cbr\u003eenterprise and covered the points of interest in the insurrection\u003cbr\u003emost exhaustively. Their correspondents shared the camps of\u003cbr\u003einsurgent chiefs, witnessed the daring machete charges of the\u003cbr\u003eCubans, saw every detail of armed life in the field. Others kept\u003cbr\u003eclose watch of the movements of the Spanish forces in Havana and\u003cbr\u003ethe fortified towns, as well as in the field. One was shot in\u003cbr\u003eaction. Another was macheted to death after his capture, by a\u003cbr\u003eSpanish officer who waited only to be sure that the prisoner was\u003cbr\u003ean American before ordering him to death. Others were incarcerated\u003cbr\u003ein Morro and Cabanas fortresses and in the other Spanish prisons\u003cbr\u003ein Cuba because they insisted on telling the truth to America and\u003cbr\u003ethe world. They were the ones who told of the horrors of\u003cbr\u003ereconcentration under that infamous order of Captain General\u003cbr\u003eWeyler. They have been the real historians of Cuba.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is to all of these sources and others that the information\u003cbr\u003econtained in the present volume is owed. The writer takes pleasure\u003cbr\u003ein acknowledging the courteous permission to use salient facts\u003cbr\u003econtained in some volumes of merit published prior to this time.\u003cbr\u003eBut more than all the obligation is to the newspaper\u003cbr\u003ecorrespondents who worked with him in Cuba in the days when the\u003cbr\u003ewar was but an insurrection and afterward when the insurrection\u003cbr\u003ebecame our own war against Spain for the liberty of Cuba. They are\u003cbr\u003ethe ones who have gathered the most exhaustive information on the\u003cbr\u003ewhole subject of Cuban affairs.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47069575151856,"sku":"2940015619263","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940015619263","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}