The Island That Dared: Journey in Cuba

Take a three-generation family holiday in Cuba in the company of Dervla Murphy, her daughter and three young granddaughters and you have a Swallows and Amazons adventure in the Caribbean. They trek into the hills and along the coast, camping out on empty beaches beneath the stars and relishing the ubiquitous Cuban hospitality.

But this is just the start of a fully-fledged quest to understand the unique society created by the Cuban Revolution. For Dervla returns alone to explore the mountains, coastal swamps and decaying cities, investigating the experience of modern Cuba with her particular, candid curiosity. The Island That Dares builds a complex picture of a people struggling to retain their identity in the face of insistent hostility from America.

‘acute, funny and utterly her own woman, she remains in her eight decade a traveller-and writer-of rare pedigree’ – Dan Linstead, Wanderlust