Carpentier, Alejo, Music in Cuba, University of Minnesota Press, 2001.

Originally published in 1946 (before the time when this novel begins), Carpentier's study of the roots of Cuban music shows how West Indian, European, and African influences came together to form the unique Cuban sound in writing that is intellectual in style and content but accessible to the common reader.

Salazar, Max, Mambo Kingdom: Latin Music in New York, Omnibus Press, 2002.

Salazar is a respected historian who has written on several facets of Latin American music. In this new book, he explores the significance of the New York scene in bridging the cultural gap between European and Latin traditions.

Suchlicki, Jaime, Cuba: From Columbus to Castro and Beyond, 4th ed., Brasseys Inc., 1997.

This study is one of the most thorough analyses written on Cuban history by an American, updated to reflect the post-Soviet world.

Sweeney, Philip, The Rough...