Cuba Diaries

<p>The face of modern-day Cuba is in many respects still frozen in the 1950s, with its classic American cars, horse-drawn carriages and colonial Spanish architecture. In a country where taxi drivers earn more than doctors, understanding Cuba is a compelling but never-ending task. <br><br>In the early 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Cuba was plunged into crisis. Having been subsidized by the Soviet Union to the tune of $3 million a day, the country''s economy entered freefall. The ban on the US dollar was lifted, the floodgates of tourism opened and the salaries of Cubans in contact with foreigners went into orbit. <br><br>Into Castro''s fortress of dollar-fuelled hedonism and communist austerity came the American wife of a European energy consultant posted to Havana, and their two small children. Isadora Tattlin befriended Cubans from all walks of life, gave dozens of parties - even Fidel Castro came to dinner! - and kept a daily diary. The result is a remarkable testimony to a unique period in Cuba''s history when el triunfo de la revolucion was beginning to clash with the powerful lure of multinational consumerism.</p>