A concise and highly readable history of the island nation from the colonial years through the revolution (called here Castro's Revolution), now in its fifth edition. Suchlicki, a professor of history at the University of Miami, newly considers the prospects for the future of Cuba in the last chapter of this latest edition. No fan of Castro or his government, Suchlicki looks with a particularly critical eye at the current political and economic climate in Cuba. The preface to this edition (which is mostly about Hugo Chavez), discusses the astonishing, ominous and otherwise not very welcome developments in Cuba (including the author's odd statement that China operates an expansive spy network in the Western hemisphere).  (CBA69, $24.95)