In the first edition of The Hovering Giant, Cole Blasier analyzed U.S. response to revolutions in Latin America from Madero in Mexico to Allende in Chile.  He explained why U.S. leaders sponsored paramilitary units to overthrow revolutionary governments in Guatemala and Cuba and compromised their own differences with revolutionary governments in Mexico and Bolivia.  The protection of private U.S. interests was part of the explanation, but Blasier gave greater emphasis to rivalry with Germany or the Soviet Union.

Now in this revised edition, Blasier also examines the responses of the Carter and Reagan administrations to the Grenadian and Nicaraguan revolutions and the revolt in El Salvador.  He also brings up to date the interpretation of U.S.-Cuban relations.

Blasier stresses U.S. defense of its preeminent position in the Caribean Basin, as well as rivalry with the Soviet Union, to explain these later U.S. responses.  Seemingly unaware of historical experience, Washington followed patterns in Central America and Grenada similar to earlier patterns in Guatemala, Cuba, and Chile even though the latter had adverse effects on U.S. security and economic interests.

Cuba has been transformed more radically within one decade than almost any society in recent history. Yet the Cuban Revolution is poorly understood abroad because of its physical and political isolation, the controversies between adherents of the old and new regimes, and the murky skirmishes of the cold war.

This collection of essays is a comprehensive and authoritative study of almost all major aspects of socialist Cuba. It draws together the talents of the ablest group of Cuban specialists ever represented in a single volume.