Havana Nocturne

How the Mob Owned Cuba...and Then Lost It to the Revolution

By: T. J. English

Narrated by: Mel Foster

Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

In Havana Nocturne, T. J. English offers a riveting, multifaceted true tale of organized crime, political corruption, roaring nightlife, revolution, and international conflict that interweaves the dual stories of the mob in Havana and the event that would overshadow it: the Cuban Revolution.

Bringing together long-buried historical information and English's own research in Havana - including interviews with the era's key survivors - Havana Nocturne takes listeners back to Cuba in the years when it was a veritable devil's playground for mob leaders Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Thanks to strong ties with the island's brutal dictator, President Batista, the mob soon owned the biggest luxury hotels and casinos and launched an unprecedented tourist boom.

But their dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and others who would lead the country's disenfranchised to overthrow their corrupt government and its foreign partners - an epic cultural battle that English captures in all its sexy, decadent, ugly glory.

©2008 T. J. English (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"English's engaging narrative reads with the gripping quality of fiction: the dark underworld of Havana comes to life....Highly recommended." ( Library Journal)
"Crime writer English...unfolds a story whose main outline will be familiar to any fan of The Godfather: Part II, but whose twists and turns no screenplay could keep up with." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Interesting and educational

I started this having no idea that the Mob had been involved in Cuba. In fact, I knew nothing about Cuba and its relationship with the United States so it was quite interesting to learn how the relationship could have been much different now if the American government and the mobsters had picked a different horse to back, or perhaps if Castro had been killed in one of his early coup attempts.

Anyway, it was a slow trek through the story because none of the politics, or the mob relations or the characters involved were familiar to me. But it was enlightening in how it explained the background to the current US-Cuba relations.

The narrator is okay... a bit boring but at least he's understandable.

Socialism beats the mob

A good example of how greed, sleaze and criminality can defeated but not in the USA. No lessons were learned.

Interesting but a little bland

Learned a lot about both sides of the isle and not just America’s viewpoint. I can see how Castro might have been viewed differently than just a dictator.

Great story, especially relevant now.

This is an amazing and unusual story. It is primarily about how the mob ran Havana's casino business, but this story is inseparable from the story of the Cuban Revolution that ended it all. It's a great piece of history to learn about, especially given recent events between the US and Cuba.

Some listeners complained about the plain delivery style. I would agree that it is pretty dry, but it didn't bother me. It is non-fiction, after all.

My only complaint about the narration is that it was not done by a native Spanish speaker. The narrator learned the basic rules, so it wasn't the worst I've heard. But can be a little challenging to unravel some of the the names of songs and people (for example, in the song title "Como Fue", somehow "fue" ends up having two syllables).

Overall, I highly recommend it. The subject matter is of course, at least R-rated. It would not be a good choice for your family vacation with elementary-school kids.

a good read before heading to Havana

fascinating story that captures the period and has lots of behind the scenes anecdotes. I would recommend it.

The only book on Cuba you will ever need to read.

This NEEDED to be written..finally the unbiased story of this fascinating period. If you want to know what the heck was going on in Cuba immediately before Castro took over, and how and why he was able to pull off the impossible...a successful revolution; including the dictator Batista, American policy, the American Mob, Meyer Lansky, Casinos, etc; and how they all had a hand in this fascinating history...then this is THE book for you. And it is a page-turner...TJ English has taken this fascinating history and written it in a highly readable fashion, (and was obviously thorough in his research). I couldn't put it down. I've read most of the books on this subject at this point, and this book is by far the best.

believe the hype

Havana Nocturne is everything it purports to be and more. exhaustively researched, elegantly written, a story boldly told.

I expected more dish about the night life

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would make it less about the facts and figures and more about the beauty of the island and the people, the night life, the glitz and glamour.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Something less historical. This makes two in a row about Latin countries that failed to bring the local feel I was after.

Did Havana Nocturne inspire you to do anything?

Stop reading it.

I want to like it

I want to like the book, but it comes across as fairly dry, despite the sometimes exciting material.

My download has a production problem in that 2 hours in part 1 are repeated. I'm not sure if that's a Blackstone problem or an Audible problem.

An excellent history lesson

Offers a fascinating look into an interesting and important period, and provides a real challenge to those who think Castro is evil.