This brief volume is an eloquent statement on the meaning of José Martí's thought as well as on how his thought has been harnessed to the needs of ideology in present-day Cuba. Hence, José Martí, the United States, and the Marxist Interpretation of Cuban History should quite properly be viewed as a contribution to the sociology of knowledge, and the political processing of the literature.Professor Ripoll's volume gives special attention to Martí's writings on the United States: without sparing the colonialist and annexationist currents of the times, Martí in his writing demonstrated a full and balanced sense of pluralist currents in the United States.The author sees Martí, in his desire for redemption, as a truer socialist and revolutionary than those who seek to cloak themselves in his words. Because Martí believed freedom to be indispensable for the advancement of society, efforts to hitch Martí to a single ideological post are considered futile.

Ripoll, Carlos

Carlos Ripoll is professor of Romance languages at Queens College of the City University of New York. He is the author of several books and many articles on Cuban culture and history, including The Cuban Scene: Censors and Dissenters, published in 1982 by the Cuban-American National Foundation, and a bilingual anthology of MartI's thought.