Cuba recommended reading

Last published in 2008, this very complete book is a must-have guide for all birders visiting Cuba. This relatively recent guide book published by Helm field guides is the best (and only!) guide available for the birds of Cuba. It includes detailed information on habitats, range, status and nesting as well as geographical information about Cuba. There are also 51 colour plates with illustrations of all the 354 species of birds found in Cuba and maps and checklists.

This stylish recipe book comes packed with recipes for Cuban dishes and cocktails, as well as interesting facts and information about the country's history and culture. The whole lot is tied together with wonderful colour photographs to whet the appetite for Cuban food and travel!

This 1958 novel is written by British author Graeme Green and set in Havana. It is a black comedy telling the story of a fictional British protagonist who works for the Britsh Secret Service in Cuba. Green, who himself was in MI6, pokes fun at inteligence services and their willingness to believe their local informants. The book was made into a film starring Alec Guinness in 1959.

This pulitzer prize-winning novel was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. The book tells the story of an ageing fisherman, Santiago who travels far out into the Gulf Stream north of Cuba and catches a giant Marlin fish. Hemmingway also wrote Islands in the Stream, a novel made up of three 'acts' set in Cuba and the Bahamas that was published after his death.