Book reviews: Across the Florida Strait

Summary

This review evaluates a bilingual atlas of Cuba created by geographer Dr. Canet and cartographer Erwin Raisz. The 63-page publication offers a vivid portrayal of Cuba's physical and social landscape through a combination of Spanish and English texts, accompanied by colorful maps, diagrams, and pictographs. Designed for a broad readership—including Cubans, tourists, businesspeople, and students—the atlas distills complex geographic and socioeconomic information into an accessible visual format. The review praises the work for its effective dramatization of the Cuban setting and its ability to convey how local life adapts to and transforms the environment. Strengths include the integration of expert knowledge with innovative cartographic design, which results in an engaging and informative narrative. Nevertheless, the review identifies several weaknesses: basic geographic facts such as provincial areas, elevations, and hydrographic features are either absent or insufficiently detailed, limiting its utility as a reference tool. Despite these limitations, the atlas succeeds in its primary goal of fostering a deep familiarity with Cuba's people, economy, and daily realities. The review concludes that this bilingual atlas is a commendable contribution to inter-American geographic literature and a potential model for similar works on other countries.